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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Scotland has joined six other healthcare organisations in expressing “significant collective concern” around proposed changes to the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.
Currently, only the UK government has the power to legislate on the regulation of healthcare professionals, as this is outside the remit of Scotland’s devolved powers.
As a result, provisions relating to conscientious objection — meaning that individuals would not have to participate — could be removed from the Bill at stage three.
However, it is possible for a section 104 order to be implemented under the Scotland Act 1998 at a later stage that would allow the Scottish government to make its own provisions around the “conscience clause”.
In a letter sent to the Scottish health minister, and chairs of committees in the Scottish and Westminster parliaments, on 23 February 2026, who introduced the Bill in March 2024, the RPS and other bodies said: “The prospect of removing matters of such professional, ethical and legal significance from parliamentary scrutiny at stage three, and deferring them to secondary legislation after the Bill has passed, raises important questions about transparency, accountability and the robustness of the legislative process.”
The letter was signed by the Association for Palliative Medicine (Scotland), the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland.
“These protections are central to the safe, ethical and fair delivery of care, and to the confidence of our medical workforce who may be affected by the legislation,” it added.
In September 2025, the results of a survey conducted by The Pharmaceutical Journal revealed that just over half (54%; n=408) of pharmacist respondents supported assisted dying in principle.
The RPS — which has a neutral stance on assisted dying — said in the joint letter that the seven co-signatories hold no collective view on the principle of assisted dying itself.
However, the co-signatories shared concerns around the removal of the “no duty to participate” provisions, and “potentially other areas linked to professional regulation and employment protections”.
“A section 104 order, by its nature, receives limited parliamentary scrutiny,” the letter said.
“Matters central to professional regulation, employment protections, and the rights of staff should not be left to a later process in which detailed debate, amendment, and accountability are significantly constrained.”
With a matter of such “profound ethical and clinical implications, it is essential that all key safeguards, responsibilities, and protections form part of the primary legislation from the outset”, it added.
In November 2025, an amendment added to the Bill at stage two stated that an approved substance must only be supplied to a doctor or a nurse by a registered pharmacist.
This amendment was lodged at the request of the RPS, which said at the time that it “brings the supply of the substance by a pharmacist into scope for the conscientious objection clause”, meaning that pharmacists would be under no duty to participate.
A spokesperson for the Scottish government said: “The Assisted Dying Bill is a Member’s Bill and the Scottish government remains neutral.
“Our view is that the Bill in its current form is outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and we have engaged with the UK government to identify a route to resolve these issues.
“Changes to devolved competence have been agreed to address some of these concerns; the UK government’s preference was that those that could be addressed through other means, should be.”
The Scottish Parliament is expected to be dissolved on 9 April 2026, ahead of elections due to be held on 7 May 2026.
