CRITICAL CARE DECISIONS IN FETAL AND NEONATAL MEDICINE

Early day motion 122, tabled 16 November 2006 by Kevin Barron (Labour). Signed by 47 members.

That this House welcomes the report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics on critical care decisions in fetal and neonatal medicine: ethical issues; is hopeful that the council's proposed guidelines on giving intensive care to extremely premature babies will help parents and doctors to make decisions about treatment in individual situations; recognises that better information about the health of premature and seriously ill babies as they grow up needs to be available to parents and doctors making these decisions; recommends the NHS train all professionals working in neonatal medicine in palliative care; urges the Government to accept further responsibility for ensuring that disabled children and their families receive equal access to high quality services; agrees that doctors should be aware of, but not driven by, the resource implications of decisions in fetal and neonatal medicine, which should be based on the best interests of the babies concerned; and notes that more could be done to avoid the high personal and financial costs of a court case when parents and doctors cannot agree on the treatment of a baby.

Signatures by party: Labour 27, Liberal Democrat 11, Conservative 7, Independent 1, Independent Labour 1.