However, its use has become increasingly controversial amid claims that it has been used to hasten death and free up beds.

I also know that there are doctors who would be prepared to hasten death if there were a legal structure in place that had been agreed.

The three then discuss the methods they might use to hasten death, such as injections or smothering one another with a pillow.

If people incorrectly assume that a pump will hasten death, they will deny their loved one effective symptom control in their last days.

But for patients who are already seriously ill - transplant patients and those undergoing chemotherapy - it can hasten death.