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Assisted Dying Review Panel
Records of Meetings
Year: 2024
The following records of meetings have been approved by the Panel. Signed
Chair
Assisted Dying Review Panel
Date: 7th March 2024
Present | Deputy Louise Doublet , Chair Deputy Catherine Curtis , Member |
Apologies | Deputy Philip Bailhache , Member |
In attendance | Sammy McKee , Acting Principal Committee and Panel Officer Ben Walker , Acting Committee and Panel Officer |
Agenda matter | Action |
1. Panel Membership and Vice Chair The Panel noted that membership of the Review Panel included Deputy Louise Doublet (Chair), Deputy Catherine Curtis and Deputy Philip Bailhache . The Panel noted apologies from Deputy Bailhache and agreed to request expressions of interest from Panel members in relation to the role of Vice-Chair. The Panel asked the Officer to send a Microsoft Teams post for Panel members to express their interest in being nominated as Vice-Chair of the Panel. | BW |
2. Declaration of views Deputy Curtis informed the Panel that she had mixed views about assisted dying, based on her own personal and professional experiences in palliative and end of life care settings. She advised that she had concerns both about preventing unnecessary suffering but also about ensuring that people did not seek out an assisted death for the wrong reasons. Deputy Doublet informed the Panel that she was in favour of assisted dying in principle and was a member and patron of the Channel Islands Humanists group, which was also supportive of the introduction of assisted dying in Jersey. It was advised that she would not be undertaking any public campaigning as a representative of the Channel Islands Humanists Group, for the duration of the Panel's review, and had informed the Channel Islands Humanists Group of this. It was further advised that she had a neutral view of how assisted dying would work in practice, but that ensuring the dignity of patients and their families should be the guiding principle. The Panel asked the Officer to include the Declaration of Views item of business on the agenda of its next Panel meeting, to allow Deputy Bailhache to express his views on the topic. | BW |
3. Briefing The Panel noted and discussed potential dates to receive Government Officers for a private briefing on the detailed proposals for assisted dying (Proposals). The Panel agreed that the briefing could take place during the lunchtime adjournment of the States Assembly debate on Wednesday 20th March 2024, and requested that the Officer make arrangements to schedule the briefing. | BW |
The Panel discussed areas of the Proposals that it wished to be briefed on and agreed to request a briefing on the updates and new additions to the Proposals. |
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4. Meeting Schedule The Panel noted and discussed its meeting schedule and agreed a number of changes. The Panel requested that the Officer update the meeting schedule to be approved at its next meeting. | BW |
5. Assisted Dying: Final Proposals The Panel noted and discussed the final proposals for Assisted Dying received on 27th February 2024, and requested that the Officer print copies to be circulated to Panel Members. | BW |
6. Draft Scoping Document, Terms of Reference and Digital and Public Engagement Plan The Panel considered and discussed the draft Scoping Document, Terms of Reference, and Digital and Public Engagement Plan, and agreed changes. The Panel requested that the Officer make the changes and recirculate for the Panel to consider and approve. | BW |
7. Progressing the Review The Panel noted the draft Review work plan, that included key milestones and timelines, and asked the Officer to amend the work plan into a different format. | BW |
8. Future Meetings The Panel noted that its next meeting was scheduled to take place at 10:30am on Tuesday 12th March 2024 in the Le Capelain Room, States Building. |
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Date: 12th March 2024
Present | Deputy Louise Doublet , Chair Deputy Catherine Curtis , Vice-Chair Deputy Philip Bailhache , Member |
Apologies |
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In attendance | Sammy McKee , Acting Principal Committee and Panel Officer Ben Walker , Acting Committee and Panel Officer |
Agenda matter | Action |
1. Panel Membership and Vice Chair The Panel noted that it required a Vice-Chair and agreed to appoint Deputy Catherine Curtis to the role of Vice-Chair of the Panel. |
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2. Declaration of views The Panel recalled that Deputy Doublet and Deputy Curtis had declared their views regarding assisted dying at the Panel meeting on 7th March 2024. The Panel was informed that Deputy Bailhache was undecided about his position on assisted dying and, once he had clarified this, would declare his views in due course. | BW |
3. Briefing The Panel noted it was due to receive Government Officers for a private briefing on the final proposals for assisted dying on Wednesday 20th March 2024 at 12:50pm. The Panel asked the Officer to reschedule the private briefing to take place at 12:50pm on Tuesday 19th March 2024. | BW |
4. Meeting Schedule The Panel noted its updated meeting schedule and agreed, that due to the limited timeframe for undertaking its review and in order to make efficient use of Panel Members time, to use bullet points of items for discussion, instead of formal Panel agendas, for future scheduled meetings. | BW |
5. Assisted Dying: Final Proposals The Panel noted it was due to receive the final proposals for assisted dying on Tuesday 12th March 2024, and that these would be circulated to the Panel for its consideration in due course. The Panel noted that its feedback had been requested from Government Officers in relation to the construction of the Assisted Dying Proposition, and received William Millow , Deputy Greffier, to discuss this matter. Due to the timescales for considering the matter, the Panel agreed not to provide its views as to whether the Appendix to the Proposition on assisted dying should be included and voted on by the States Assembly end mass'. The Panel requested that the Officer draft correspondence to | BW |
the Minister for Health and Social Services setting out the position of the Panel, regarding the construction of the assisted dying Proposition, for its consideration and approval. The Panel noted that a briefing paper setting out an analysis of the Phase 2 Government consultation and the Ethical Review with the final proposals for assisted dying would be provided to the Panel for its consideration in due course. The Panel noted that the final proposals for assisted dying would be lodged by the Council of Ministers on 22nd March 2024. | BW |
6. Progressing the Review The Panel noted its updated review work plan, including key milestones and timelines for the Panel's review. The Panel asked the Officer to make changes to the review work plan and inform Government Officers that the Panel requested a two- day turnaround time for any future requests for factual checking. | BW |
7. Draft Scoping Document, Terms of Reference and Digital and Public Engagement Plan The Panel noted and approved the updated Terms of Reference and Scoping Documentation for its review. The Panel considered and approved its Digital and Public Engagement Plan. | BW KB |
8. Future Meetings The Panel noted that its next meeting had been rescheduled to take place on Monday 25th March 2024 in the Le Capelain Room, States Building. |
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Date: 19th March 2024
Present | Deputy Catherine Curtis , Vice-Chair Deputy Philip Bailhache , Member |
Apologies | Deputy Louise Doublet , Chair |
In attendance | Sammy McKee , Acting Principal Committee and Panel Officer Ben Walker , Acting Committee and Panel Officer |
Agenda matter | Action |
1. Briefing: Assisted Dying The Panel received Government Officers for a private briefing on the final proposals for assisted dying. This meeting was held in private in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 (as amended) under Qualified Exemption Article 36 and a private record was taken. |
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Date: 25th March 2024
Present | Deputy Louise Doublet , Chair Deputy Catherine Curtis |
Apologies | Deputy Philip Bailhache , Member |
In attendance | Sammy McKee , Acting Principal Committee and Panel Officer Justine Lepp, Research and Project Officer |
Agenda matter | Action |
1. Records of Meetings The Panel agreed to review the records of meetings from 7th and 12th March at its next meeting. |
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2. Briefing: Assisted Dying The Panel considered the information that was provided by Government Officials at a Briefing on the Assisted Dying Proposals on 19th March. It was noted that the transcript function on the Teams recording was very helpful and that it would like to utilise it in other meetings/briefings. The Panel discussed the lodged Proposition (P.18/2024) in relation to changes to the safeguards surrounding palliative care. The Panel requested that the Officer undertake a comparison analysis of the lodged Proposition and the draft Proposition and note the changes in respect of this matter. The Panel discussed a critical item for the debate regarding the number of General Practitioners (GPs) on the Island that were able/willing to deliver the assisted dying service and whether health professionals from other jurisdictions would have to travel to the Island to assist. The Officer was requested to ascertain whether the consultation report provided any detailed information regarding the number of health professionals that had expressed their willingness to deliver the assisted dying and to report back to the Panel. | SM SM |
3. Review Launch The Panel noted that the review launch letter was due to be sent to the Minister for Health and Social Services on 25th March 2024. It was further noted that the press release and social media postings would also be published the morning of 25th March 2024. |
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4. Public Hearing with the Minister for Health and Social Services – Question Plan The Panel noted and discussed the draft Question Plan in preparation for its Public Hearing with the Minister for Health and Social Services on Wednesday 3rd April. The Panel discussed and agreed to meet directly before the Public Hearing to review the Question Plan and delegate question areas. The Panel made a number of amendments to the question plan which the Officer was asked to enact. The Officer was asked to re-circulate the question plan once these changes had been made. | SM |
5. Future Meetings The Panel noted that its next meeting would take place on Wednesday 3rd April at 10am, before the Public Hearing. | SM |
Date: 3rd April 2024
Present | Deputy Louise Doublet , Chair Deputy Catherine Curtis , Vice-Chair |
Apologies | Deputy Philip Bailhache , Member |
In attendance | Deputy Tom Binet , Minister for Health and Social Services Ruth Johnson , Director of Health Policy, Health Policy Unit, Cabinet Office Sammy McKee , Acting Principal Committee and Panel Officer Ben Walker , Acting Committee and Panel Officer Katie Bastiman, Communications Officer |
Agenda matter | Action |
1. Pre-Meeting The Panel noted it was due to receive the Minister for Health and Social Services and a Government Officer for a Public Hearing at 11:00am and discussed areas of questioning. |
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2. Public Hearing: Minister for Health and Social Services The Panel received the Minister for Health and Social Services and a Government Officer for a Public Hearing at 11:00am. The hearing was recorded and webcast live via Public-I and a transcript was produced. Following the Public Hearing, the Panel discussed key topics to include on its social media updates with the Panel Communications Officer. |
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Date: 10th April 2024
Present | Deputy Louise Doublet , Chair Deputy Catherine Curtis , Vice-Chair Deputy Philip Bailhache , Member |
Apologies |
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In attendance | Ben Walker , Acting Committee and Panel Officer |
Agenda matter | Action |
1. Heads of Report The Panel noted and discussed the draft heads of report circulated to the Panel on 8th April 2024. The Panel discussed and agreed changes to the draft heads of report and requested that the Officer make the agreed changes. | BW |
2. Future Meetings The Panel noted that its next meeting would take place on Thursday 25th April at 11:30am. |
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Date: 23rd April 2024
Present | Deputy Louise Doublet , Chair Deputy Catherine Curtis , Member Deputy Philip Bailhache , Member |
In attendance | Sammy McKee , Acting Principal Committee and Panel Officer Ben Walker , Acting Committee and Panel Officer Rosalyn Sharp, Research and Project Officer |
Agenda matter | Action | |
BW | ||
The Panel discussed and agreed to proceed with an amendment to the Assisted Dying Proposition (P.18/2024'). The Panel requested that the Officer draft the wording and report accompanying the amendment to P.18/2024 and circulate this to the Panel for it to consider and approve. |
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2. Future Meetings The Panel asked the Officer to schedule a meeting to take place on Wednesday1st May 2024. | BW | |
Date: 1st May 2024
Present | Deputy Catherine Curtis , Vice-Chair Deputy Philip Bailhache , Member |
Apologies | Deputy Louise Doublet , Chair |
In attendance | Ben Walker , Acting Committee and Panel Officer |
Agenda matter | Action | |
BW | ||
The Panel noted the draft Amendment to the Assisted Dying Proposition (P.18/2024') circulated by the Officer on 26th April. The Panel discussed and agreed changes and requested that the Officer provide these changes to the Chair for consideration and electronic approval. |
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2. Future Meetings The Panel noted that its next meeting was scheduled to take place at 9:00am on Tuesday 7th May in the Le Capelain Room, States Building. |
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Date: 7th May 2024
Present | Deputy Louise Doublet , Chair Deputy Catherine Curtis , Member Deputy Philip Bailhache , Member |
In attendance | Sammy McKee , Acting Principal Committee and Panel Officer Ben Walker , Acting Committee and Panel Officer |
Agenda matter | Action |
1. Assisted Dying Report The Panel noted a draft report following its Review of Assisted Dying had been circulated by the Officer on 4th May 2024. The Panel discussed and agreed changes to the draft report and requested that the Officer circulate the updated report for Panel approval. | BW |