A Conservative MP has told the Commons that he felt he had “let down” his patients, because he was unable to give them a “good death”.

“I failed because I did not give them the good death they deserve despite the very best efforts at palliative care,” said Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst.

The former surgeon urged MPs to support those who wanted the “final choice” in his final days, as Parliament debated the Assisted Dying Bill.

On Friday, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives, was passed at second reading.

The Solihull West and Shirley MP said: “I’m standing here not only as a doctor, having worked as a surgeon for about a decade, but also as a healthcare lawyer. So I’ve looked at this debate from both sides of the argument, and I’ve been deeply moved by some of the stories I have heard from patients facing a terminal illness.

“I am also instructed by my own experiences, my personal experiences, by my relatives, but also by the patients with whom I have failed. I failed because I did not give them the good death they deserve despite the very best efforts of palliative care.

“And it is true that we can improve palliative care provision in this country, but it is not a binary choice. It is not a choice of palliative care or assisted dying. It is a choice of having the choice of how you want to have autonomy over your body at the end of your life.

“I understand the concern in this House. I do, I really do.

“But this is not meant to stop the debate, this is the point to engage in the debate, that is the point that we move it forward so that people can contribute to it at the committee stage and say how this can be improved, and we can work together to make a social change, to improve our society and to support those who want the ultimate choice in the last days.”

Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) also spoke in support of the bill, arguing that “palliative care has limits”.

The former doctor said: “The truth is members, palliative care has limits and there are limits to palliative care.

“Think of the cases that keep doctors and surgeons awake at night, such as the inoperable throat cancer, which erodes away, into the carotid artery, a literal bloody time bomb that no one knows when it will go off. And do you know what modern medicine answer to that is?

“Keep dark towels nearby for the blood, advise a partner or family about what it’s like to find someone who’s bleeding. There’s no cure, there’s no respite. What would you do?

“Currently, we can offer no agency for these patients, no alternative to this horrific death. Can we really say it’s compassionate?

“So I ask, shouldn’t we even offer those who suffer at least the chance for dignity in their death?”

Dr Simon Opher, a GP and Labor MP for Stroud, suggested that euthanasia is a “tool” in palliative care.

He told the Commons: “I have had two patients go to Dignitas on their own, without family members, because the family members were afraid they would be arrested when they returned.

“And I’ve also—we’ve discussed this: giving a double dose or morphine—and I think a lot of doctors, almost all the doctors in hospice have probably done this, doubling the dose of morphine knowing that it can, you know , curtailing the patient’s life. It’s a big fudge – putting me in a very vulnerable position.”

He added: “I fully support what everyone is saying about really developing palliative care is really important, but it doesn’t replace assisted dying. The things are connected: assisted dying is one of our tools in palliative care as I see it.”

Labor MP Dr Peter Prinsley, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, also backed the bill, saying: “I know the terrifying loss of dignity and control in the final days of life.

“I’m talking here about people dying, not people living well with their chronic or terminal illnesses.”

“This is not a slippery slope – we are shortening death, not life, for our patients. This is not life or death, this is death or death,” he added.

Not everyone with a medical background supported the bill, with Conservative MP Dr Ben Spencer warning it put “implicit pressure” on vulnerable people.

The consultant psychiatrist and MP for Runnymede and Weybridge said the bill “does not protect” people who are vulnerable to coercion or struggling with the burden of caring responsibilities.

“It risks putting implicit pressure on people who are already vulnerable at a time in their lives when they should be receiving our unwavering care and support. We should and must vote it down,” he added.