The societal shift toward the permissibility of assisted dying/assisted suicide is often said to be the moral matter of our time. All assisted dying/assisted suicide laws give significant roles to psychiatry.
This session involves contributions from speakers who have been close to policy debates in this area in the UK. The session will focus on clarifying where law reform has got to after 3 years of busy parliamentary activity and present the processes by which the Royal College of Psychiatrists, during this period, has developed influential policy positions.
Unresolved academic and practical debates cutting across the international scene will also be presented and discussed, including whether assisted dying should be regarded as a treatment and how assisted suicide should relate to suicide prevention.
Learning objectives
In this webinar you will gain:
• up to date knowledge on assisted dying/assisted suicide policy in the UK
• clarification of key issues in clinical ethics and law relating to assisted dying/assisted suicide
• greater awareness of international debates on assisted dying/assisted suicide relevant to psychiatry.
Speakers
Chair: Dr Annabel Price, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge
Mr Oliver Kavanagh Penno, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London
Professor Gareth Owen, King's College London, London
Professor Alex Ruck Keene, King's College London, London
Funding
RCPsych International Congress is financially supported by the purchase of exhibition stand packages. A full list of confirmed exhibitors can be found here: Exhibiting Organisations at International Congress 2026
Availability
This webinar is part of the Congress webinar 2026 package. If you attended all four days of Congress, you will have access to these as part of your Congress package. Otherwise the Congress webinar 2026 package can be purchased below.
