Accessing an assisted death from the UK: Navigating the legal ‘grey’ area

Assisted dying is available in many countries globally but remains illegal in the UK, where there are ongoing debates about its legal status. Britons seeking an assisted death must travel to Switzerland. This article explores the experiences of UK-based individuals considering an assisted death and family members of those who have completed an assisted death. We recruited 11 participants across two qualitative studies, analyzing data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. These results indicated four themes: the "<i>burden</i>" of illness; the value of autonomy and control over death; the difficulties of talking about assisted dying; and the barriers associated with pursuing an assisted death. The findings suggest there are individuals in the UK who will seek an assisted death, despite its illegality. Those involved in these journeys are not currently able to access support and more needs to be done to ensure their needs are met.