Keep assisted dying laws simple, says Whitty

Meanwhile, Retired High Court judge Nicholas Mostyn said he thought it would be “impossible” for the High Court to rule in every assisted dying case.

“The High Court, trust me I’ve just come from there, has not got the capacity.”

MPs were also told there should be a separate service set up to provide assisted dying.

Dr Andrew Green, of the British Medical Association, which is neutral on the law change, said: “We do believe it should not be part of any doctors’ normal job. It should be set up as a separate service. It would reassure patients that it is not part of their normal care.”

Sir Chris said MPs may even want to debate whether such a service should be entirely separate from the NHS and he warned setting it up would take some time.

He said the two years factored in by the bill was a “reasonable starting point”, but added some things may take longer than that.

And he also pointed out that it was important to recognise palliative care was still not of a high enough standards as “we would hope for”.

He said while changing the law should not make the situation “better or worse”, improving end of life care should also be looked at.