Influencing the national agenda through the media
We have been influencing Bills working their way through parliament on assisted dying/assisted suicide and police powers of detention for patients in crisis in relation to the Mental Health Act.
As these are issues of public interest, we have been able to use the media to influence decision makers and promote the voice of psychiatry. This has resulted in the College being referenced in more than 4,600 pieces of coverage across broadcast, online and print news outlets throughout May.
Assisted dying/assisted suicide
In a politically unprecedented situation, two separate pieces of legislation on assisted dying/assisted suicide were debated in the House of Commons and Holyrood during the same week.
We issued a press release stating that the College could not support the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill for England and Wales in its current form. The College called on MPs to consider our concerns ahead of a debate in the House of Commons.
Dr Lade Smith CBE, President of the College, outlined our position during an . This was the first of several interviews with Jeremy Vine, ITV News, Channel 5 News and Sky News. Registrar Dr Trudi Seneviratne OBE, and Dr Annabel Price, College lead on assisted dying/assisted suicide (AD/AS), also spoke to the Today programme and Times Radio respectively.
The College’s stance was covered by several national news outlets, including , , , , , and . It continued to be referenced throughout the week and shortly following the debate.
MSPs in Holyrood voted for the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill to continue its legislative passage in Scotland. The 网曝黑料 in Scotland (RCPsychiS) issued a separate statement to the media following the vote. Dr Stephen Potts provided the Scottish position to the media, to clarify the differences between jurisdictions. The Scottish position was featured prominently by BBC Scotland, and was also picked up online by wider press.
Both press statements featured in more than 3,600 pieces of local and national media coverage. This included being mentioned in more than 2,500 online articles, 1,000 pieces of broadcast coverage and 80 print articles.
The College was referenced 12 times during the debate in Westminster, and we have had much positive engagement with stakeholders and parliamentarians since our announcement.
The Mental Health Bill
The College, alongside several leading health and social care organisations, issued a joint statement raising concerns about plans to extend police powers of detention to medical practitioners under reforms of the Mental Health Bill in England and Wales.
College President – Dr Lade Smith CBE - explained that the proposals risk causing significant harm, during an . Dr Mayura Deshpande, Associate Registrar, was also interviewed by Times Radio, LBC, Sky News Radio.
The press release secured more than 240 pieces of media coverage. This included a feature in and articles in , , as well as being covered by BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 2 and Times Radio.
We have since heard from government officials who confirmed that ministers had seen our position through the media and are keen to engage with us further.