GPs could be trained to help terminally ill Britons end their own lives if the assisted dying bill is passed, a Government 'death dossier' has revealed.

All family doctors in England and Wales would be eligible for a 90-minute e-learning course and an hour-long online interactive session on assisted dying.

Although this is described as 'general awareness' training, the documents seen by the Daily Mail also model a scenario in which GPs could receive a full day of in-person training giving them more detailed knowledge of how the assisted dying service would operate. 

Doctors who go on to take the more senior role of coordinating doctor would require further advanced training.

The documents lay bare what that role could involve – including explaining how the drugs would bring about death, collecting the medication from a pharmacist and providing it directly to the patient.

They could even prepare the substance and help a patient ingest it, although the final act of taking the drugs would have to be carried out by the patient themselves.

The doctor would then have to remain with the patient until they had died – or until it became clear the procedure had failed.

The controversial assisted dying bill, which would allow some terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live to willingly choose to die, will be debated again in Parliament next Friday.

It passed through the House of Commons last year before stalling in the House of Lords after opponents tabled more than 1,000 amendments.

MPs will vote again on the new proposals and, if passed, the Bill will return to the Lords. If ultimately approved, it will become law.

Campaigners opposed to assisted dying have branded the proposed training inadequate for doctors dealing with such complex, life-and-death decisions.

The new document, published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), also sets out how hospital doctors specialising in cancer, neurology, elderly medicine and palliative care could receive more intensive, in-person training.

It comes after England's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, warned last year that doctors who take part in the later stages of assisted dying would require specific training.

'I think it is much more likely that a very large number of doctors and nurses may get involved in the very earliest stages,' he said. 'Someone may raise an issue with their GP, with their nurse, with their consultant.

'When it comes to the more detailed later stages, that, in my view, will require some specific training.'

Sir Chris added that there would likely be a 'gradation' of doctors – from those willing to have an initial conversation about assisted dying to a minority prepared to 'take part in the final stages'.

The new dossier says healthcare professionals who do not wish to participate in assisted dying could opt out of the training.

The Bill would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to seek an assisted death if approved by two doctors and a multidisciplinary panel consisting of a senior lawyer, psychiatrist and social worker.

Dr Gillian Wright, from Our Duty of Care, a network of UK healthcare workers who oppose the Bill, told the Daily Mail: 'This assisted dying bill is still not safe.

'We do not know enough about the training that would be required for doctors taking part.

'A short e-training module would not be enough to enable doctors to detect coercion or undue influence.'

She fears vulnerable patients could be pressured into choosing assisted dying and that doctors may lack the training or experience needed to recognise it.

'There is significant concern that patients will not have their unmet mental health care needs assessed by an expert,' she said.

'Depression, loneliness and anxiety are common for those with a terminal illness. Too many people do not get the psychological support and end of life care they need.

'We urge MPs to invest in these services and help people to live rather than take their own lives.'

The DHSC was approached for comment.