The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons on 20 June 2025 and is likely to pass into law for England and Wales during the next 12 months, after debate and amendment in the upper House of Lords [1]. An analogous law (the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill) is also currently going through the Scottish Parliament [2]. The Bills would legalize physician-assisted suicide, limited to adults judged to be suffering from terminal illnesses.
Neither specifies in detail how assisted dying would be provided alongside or as part of state-provided healthcare services. They were proposed independently by parliamentarians, and governments in England and Scotland are neutral. Following their passage, governments would have latitude to decide when provisions come into effect and how to design services.
These changes will require extensive policy formulation as to what assisted dying services would be implemented, who would deliver them, and how they could work alongside end-of-life care services. It will take time to train staff and put clear processes in place for monitoring and compliance. The Secretary of State for Health has said there is no extra funding available for the launch of a new service at this time; an earlier impact assessment estimated savings from assisted dying, though with a wide margin of uncertainty [3].