TERMINALLY ill people seeking help to die should have face-to-face reviews with a palliative care doctor to help detect coercion, medics have said.

Delegates at the British Medical Association’s (BMA) annual meeting in Liverpool on Monday advised changes to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which cleared the Commons on Friday and now moves to the Lords.

The Bill would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, pending approval from two doctors and a panel including a social worker, legal expert and psychiatrist.

BMA members called for an in-person review with a specialist palliative doctor at the start of the process.

Dr Samuel Parker said that to ensure patient care needs have been met and to help detect coercion, “face-to-face reviews by an independent specialist palliative care doctor” must be held before the assisted dying pathway begins.

“This can also ensure the patient has received the best quality outcomes prior to commencement of assisted dying.”

He also warned that underfunding is undermining patient care.

The Health Secretary last week warned that the policy could divert NHS resources.