NHS could save millions if assisted suicide becomes legal, UK report predicts

Image credit: Andre Taissin via Unsplash / Pixabay via Pexels

A recent government report from the UK has predicted that the NHS could save millions a year if assisted suicide were legalised, marking the first time a price has been placed on human life by the government.

The UK are currently battling over an assisted suicide bill, proposed by MP Kim Leadbeater, that seeks to legalise assisted suicide for patients who have been given a terminal diagnosis and given six months to live. Back in November 2024, the bill passed its second reading 330 to 275 in parliament, and underwent a scrutiny earlier this year before it can be brought back to parliament for another vote.

According to the Daily Mail, an official “impact assessment”, published by the UK government which looks at the annual savings from the NHS should assisted suicide be legalised, predicted that the NHS could save £10 million in the first year, increasing to just under £60 million in its tenth year.

The report, which was released before the bank holiday weekend, described these savings as “unutilised healthcare”, as the patient would be dead and no longer require healthcare. It further included savings on pensions and benefits, predicting that £2.17million could be saved in the first year, increasing to £18.3million in the tenth year.

The Daily Mail say that this marks the first time that a price has been placed on human life by the government.

The document went on to say that “it is assumed that the number of people (“applicants”) coming forward to use the assisted dying service across England and Wales would range from between 273 and 1,311 in Year 1 (October 2029 to March 2030), increasing to between 1,737 and 7,598 in Year 10 (April 2038 to March 2039).” 

It added that “it is assumed that 3 in 5 applicants (60 per cent) would complete the process and have an assisted death.” 

“The estimated number of assisted deaths across England and Wales ranges from between 164 and 787 in Year 1 (October 2029 to March 2030), to between 1,042 and 4,559 in Year 10 (April 2038 to March 2039).” 

This comes as the Daily Mail also reported last week on a recent poll that indicated that most MPs would vote against the assisted suicide legislation, casting more doubt over the bill, after Ms Leadbeater already had to postpone the bill over concerns. The poll of 104 MPs found that 42 said they would vote against the bill, with 36 indicating they would vote in favour, and 13 remained undecided. Of the remaining MPs, 5 said they would abstain and 8 refused to answer. 

“This bombshell poll confirms that the more MPs hear about assisted suicide and what it entails, the less likely they are to support changing the law,” said chief executive of Care Not Killing, Dr Gordon Macdonald. 

In March this year, Life Institute also reported on how over 142 MPs who initially voted in favour of the bill indicated that they would vote against it after Ms Leadbeater removed a safeguard that would require a High Court to sign off on assisted suicide cases. 

MP Lee Anderson of Reform spoke to The Independent about the scrapping of this safeguard saying: “I support assisted dying, but this bill becomes less credible by the day. It looks like it’s being forced through at any cost, therefore I fail to see how I can support this bill at third reading.”

The Independent also reported that “privately a number of MPs now believe that the provision for sign off by a High Court judge was in fact always a ruse to get this Bill through second reading and the intention was then to dump it at a later stage”.

Sandra Parda of the Life Institute commented, saying: “This report is absolutely appalling and should be a wake-up call about the reality of assisted suicide – it’s not about compassion and dignity but about saving money.”

“It is, however, very positive that many MPs are turning against this assisted suicide bill and seeing it for what it really is. Assisted suicide is not an answer to a health problem and should not be considered as one. The government need to focus on providing real healthcare to people, so that every person is treated with value and dignity until the moment of their natural death.”