The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) welcomes the Rough Sleeping COVID-19 Response Taskforce’s work, and the government’s commitment to provide 6,000 new supported homes for vulnerable rough sleepers taken off the streets during the pandemic.

In early 2019 the RCP carried out an online survey of its members’ and fellows’ views on the subject of assisted dying.

On 30 March 2020 the RCP published a statement to clarify its position on assisted dying. A copy of that statement is available here.

Sir Ian Kennedy calls upon the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to add compliance with statutory duties regarding homelessness to regimes for inspecting hospitals.

With the RCP preparing to poll its members about its stance on assisted dying, Professor Raymond Tallis, emeritus professor of geriatric medicine at the University of Manchester, outlines why the RCP should have a neutral position. 

With the RCP preparing to poll its members about its stance on assisted dying, Dr Amy Proffitt, executive secretary of the Association for Palliative Medicine (APM), argues the case for opposing medical involvement. 

The RCP is to poll its 35,000 members and fellows next month on whether or not there should be a change in the law to permit assisted dying.

Dr Nigel Hewett, medical director of health charity Pathway, writes for the RCP on a new duty of care that is a step in the right direction towards making a difference for this vulnerable group.

This work hasn’t been done before, and represents the first time that a national multi-centre clinical audit of ED care for homeless people has been carried out in the UK.