Town hall officials are giving residents advice on ending their lives if they become very seriously ill.
In a move that has triggered controversy, they are handing out ‘right to die’ cards that allow holders to refuse emergency treatment.
The cards, which are available in libraries and surgeries, were the idea of an employee of Salford City Council.
Shortcut to euthanasia? Salford's right-to-die card
Designed to be carried in wallets, they instruct medics to withhold treatment if the carrier is too ill to make decisions.
The council insists that the cards allow people to make "informed decisions" about their future medical care.
But pro-life campaigners condemned the ‘Important decisions’ Greater Manchester pilot project as a short-cut to euthanasia.
The Mental Capacity Act, which came into force in 1997, allows adults to draw up advance directives stating the treatments they would reject should they ‘lose capacity’.
The statement is kept by a family member or GP, and used if a patient becomes too ill to make decisions independently.
The Act means doctors are legally bound to follow a patient’s wish to refuse life-prolonging treatment. Euthanasia is forbidden, however.
Advance directives have to specify the treatment to be refused and in what circumstances.
Rights: Nurse Jo Cartwight joined a similar scheme in London
Someone catastrophically injured in a road accident might want to refuse to be kept alive on a ventilator.
Salford’s cards are designed to let doctors know that a patient has made out an advanced directive. Ten thousand cards have been distributed so far.
A council spokesman said: ‘The cards have not been produced by Salford City Council alone – local NHS organisations, the voluntary sector and private care organisations have all been involved.
‘The cards were produced as a way of encouraging people to understand the implications of the Mental Capacity Act and its importance to their lives.’
The woman social care worker who came up with the scheme has a son with mental health problems.
Pro-life campaigners say the cards might be used by those who have not fully understood the complexity of the issues involved.
Dr Andrew Fergusson, of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said such important decisions should not be committed to paper alone.
He wants individuals to appoint a proxy to speak for them if they become incapacitated.
Choice: The Dying With Dignity charity provides 'advance decision' cards
‘One of our concerns is that the things people want when they are well are very different to those they want when they are unwell,’ he added. ‘Their values change.’
He said he is also concerned that a card saying ‘stop’ to a doctor could lead to a change of gear in emergency situations that would affect decision-making.
Dignity in Dying, a pro- choice group, provides a similar card to Salford’s.
Jo Cartwright, 23, who carries one, said she began to worry about her rights while nursing a patient with Huntington’s disease and cancer.
‘She had seen her father go through it and knew what was coming,’ said the North Londoner.
‘She said she didn’t want to die like he had. But she hadn’t written anything down and her mother and carers had to watch her go through exactly the same thing.’
Dr Jane Eddleston, clinical director at Manchester Royal Infirmary, said: ‘It’s a great idea to be tackling areas that are often taboo, and it’s an appropriate place to start but it needs to be followed up with further discussion with the individuals concerned.’
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