Inside the Ethics Committee - Series 5 - 4. Terminally Ill and Suicidal

Joan Bakewell discusses the real-life case of Mary, a terminally-ill woman in her 80s. She has considered her condition and has decided that she wants to die.

She is admitted to a hospice for respite care. On the first night she attempts suicide. The psychiatric team, who assess Mary, conclude that she is not clinically depressed.

Mary talks quite openly with her relatives and the medical staff about her wish to die, describing her existence as inconvenient. She also asks members of the team for euthanasia.

While at the hospice she refuses palliative care, and, as her condition is stable, she decides to go home and employ a full-time carer.

But the psychiatric staff are very concerned. Mary continues to talk of her death wish, and she has asked the psychiatric team to leave her alone when she goes home.

What right does Mary have to determine how her life ends? What is the role of her doctors, and should she attempt suicide again? Is not doing anything the equivalent of a policeman walking past and ignoring a man who is about to jump off a building?

Joan Bakewell is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the complex ethical issues surrounding this case.