Thousands of doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff have signed a letter to warn against putting further burden on the “broken” NHS by legalizing assisted dying.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, organized by the Our Duty Of Care group, more than 3,400 NHS staff have warned against the move.

This comes ahead of a parliamentary debate, scheduled for November 29, on a private member’s bill aimed at legalizing the practice.

This could see MPs vote on the issue for the first time since 2015, when the House of Commons previously opposed changing the law.

Labor MP Kim Leadbeater formally introduced her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to Parliament last month ahead of its first full debate.

The full text of his bill is expected to be released tomorrow and will likely be more than 40 pages long.

Despite growing doubts about her bill – with a number of senior ministers saying they would vote against it – Ms Leadbeater said it “offers hope to terminally ill people who clearly, with knowledge of cause and firmly, to experience a better death”.

Labor MP Kim Leadbeater formally introduced her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to Parliament last month ahead of its first full debate.

Thousands of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers have signed a letter to warn against putting further burden on the “broken” NHS by legalizing assisted dying.

But the bill has the backing of campaign group Dignity of Dying, whose members rallied outside Parliament last month.

As reported The Telegraph, 2,038 doctors, 905 nurses and 462 other healthcare workers signed the letter to Sir Keir Starmer warning against assisted dying.

Expressing “great concern” at the proposals, their letter said: “The NHS is in ruins, with health and social care in disarray.

“Palliative care is woefully underfunded and many do not have access to specialist care.

“The idea that assisted suicide can be introduced and managed safely at such a time is remarkably out of touch with the severity of the current mental health crisis and the pressures on staff.”

The letter adds that “the shift from preserving life to taking life is enormous and should not be minimized.”

“Any change would threaten society’s ability to protect vulnerable patients from abuse; it would undermine the public’s trust in doctors; and this would send a clear message to our frail, elderly and disabled patients about the value that society places on them as people,” he continues.

“As healthcare professionals, we have a legal duty of care for the safety and well-being of our patients.

“We, the undersigned, will never take the lives of our patients, even at their request.

“But for the sake of all of us and for future generations, we ask that we not rush into hasty legislation, but rather fund excellent palliative care.”

Our Duty to Care is a campaign group of doctors set up to oppose assisted dying.

Their letter is organized by Dr Gillian Wright, a former palliative care doctor from Glasgow and Dr David Randall, a nephrologist at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds are among the ministers expected to vote against Ms Leadbeater’s bill later this month, when MPs are entitled to a free vote.

Sir Keir has previously supported assisted dying and personally promised campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen to dedicate time to a debate and vote on the issue.

Write in The house magazine, Ms. Leadbeater promised that her proposed laws on assisted dying will feature the “strongest protections” against coercion anywhere in the world.

She said: “I have carried out a great deal of consultation over the last few weeks, mainly because I am not the sort of person who would embark on a task like this without first investigating the issue in depth.

“But also because I am convinced that if we want to have a new law, it must be a good law.”

The bill has the backing of campaign group Dignity in Dying, which published a letter to MPs from seven current and former nurses urging them to support the proposal.

“We are united by one wish: we all want to have a choice,” wrote the group, which includes two palliative care nurses.

“For most, palliative care in hospice, hospital or at home will help them die the way they want.

“But we believe we must advocate for those for whom palliative care cannot relieve suffering or provide the peaceful, painless death that everyone deserves.”