Psychiatrists need clear guidance on provision of competency assessments to terminally ill patients seeking to access voluntary euthanasia, clinicians and end-of-life researchers say.

The specialty’s role in supporting the psychological wellbeing of other health practitioners involved in assisted dying schemes should also be properly communicated by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), they say.

The group said the college’s position statement on the issue needs updating, given legalisation of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in five states of Australia and in New Zealand.

According to the college’s position statement on VAD, “the role of psychiatrists in end-of-life care is to assess and treat mental health conditions that are contributing to suffering, and to treat those conditions in the first instance”.