Dorothy House will be featured in an upcoming BBC Panorama programme, airing at 8pm on BBC One on Monday 16 March. The programme entitled, Assisted Dying – What next? explores the realities of hospice care, the financial pressures facing the sector, and the national conversation around assisted dying.
Programme synopsis
With assisted dying looking set to become one of the biggest social changes of modern times when MPs at Westminster voted in favour in June 2025, now the bill covering England and Wales is getting held up in the House of Lords, and many of its supporters fear that it is running out of time.
The BBC’s medical editor, Fergus Walsh, talks to leading supporters and opponents, and visits Dorothy House to talk to patients at the end of their lives. He travels to Western Australia, where voluntary assisted dying has been available since 2021, to meet one of the doctors who pioneered it and to see a patient preparing for an assisted death. Will assisted dying ever happen in the UK, and how would it work if it did?
Exclusive access
The Panorama programme is not an undercover investigation. Last autumn, Dorothy House granted exclusive, access‑led permission for the BBC’s medical editor, Fergus Walsh and the Panorama team to spend time with patients, families and staff. As part of the Hospice charity’s vision of a society where death is part of life, the access was granted to help share honest and compassionate stories about end of life care and to highlight the urgent need for sustainable funding for hospices across the UK. Patient dignity, consent and care were paramount throughout filming, which took place with the full knowledge and approval of Trustees.
Sustainable hospice funding
Wayne de Leeuw, Chief Executive of Dorothy House, said:
“This programme provided an important opportunity to show the reality of hospice care and the compassion and expertise of our teams, while also highlighting the urgent need for fair and sustainable funding for hospices. We hope it helps audiences better understand the care we provide, and the context in which we do so.”
James Byron, Director of Marketing & Engagament, said:
“Dorothy House is part of the Hospice UK Fair Funding For Hospices campaign. We’re calling on the Government to take an urgent first step towards our four-point plan by committing £112.5 million in recurring revenue funding from the next financial year onwards. This is the first part of the £450m we estimate it will cost to fully fund specialist palliative care delivered by hospices, like ours. Even if we are successful in this campaign, we will still need the support of our community to provide the holistic range of care people at the end of life deserve. If you can please do donate to Dorothy House today.
Assisted Dying: a position of neutrality
Dorothy House has been clear with the programme makers about its neutral position on assisted dying, and this neutrality has been understood and respected throughout the production. Any personal views expressed in the programme belong solely to the patients and families involved.
The documentary also reflects the wider context in which hospices operate, including the importance of equitable access to high‑quality palliative and end of life care for everyone, regardless of the ongoing public and parliamentary debate around assisted dying.
Dorothy House maintains a neutral position on assisted dying because it believes this best enables it to care for everyone in its community. As a provider of compassionate end of life care, the Hospice supports patient choice and access to care within the boundaries of the law, while continuing to advocate for properly funded specialist palliative care so that real choice is available to all.
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About Dorothy House
Dorothy House offers care, comfort and compassion to people in the last 1,000 days of their lives. We’re here when it counts, helping people to live well, die peacefully and feel supported in bereavement. We deliver specialist palliative and supportive care. We collaborate with organisations locally and internationally to improve peoples’ lived experiences. We empower people to play their part and live life to the full, whatever their condition. There’s always something that can make a difference.
For the past 50 years, we’ve provided free, personalised palliative and end of life care to thousands of people in our region, combining excellent care with practical and emotional support. We’re only here because of the support we receive from those communities. Our story is their story and it’s personal. Death comes to us all. Accepting this helps us find meaning and a deeper love for life in all its shapes and forms.
At Dorothy House, we may not be able to add days to life, but together we can add life to days. Death is part of life. End of life care is for all.
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