Will you qualify? Can you go on your own?

“Hard but not impossible”

It is difficult but not impossible to persuade one of the end-of-life centres that you should be accepted as a sole traveller.   The centres vary in their preparedness to do so. Until recently, it was Pegasos who were the most flexible but more recently it has been Athanasios. The approach of Phoenix Care seems also to be similar to that of Athanasios. At Dignitas it is still certainly possible but they are much more careful.  

There are good reasons for their hesitation. The policy change at Pegasos is directly related to the hostile publicity they received when VADs were provided for three solo patients who, in spite of assurances to the contrary, had not told their relatives what they were intending to do.

A second reason is simply one of identification.   How will they know you are who you say you are ?   Resemblance to a photograph on a passport or driving licence seems hardly enough to end the life of an individual you may not have met until the day before.   The police may require positive identification of the body and there is no stronger way of getting that right than by the word of a close relative. This problem can usually be overcome by the provision of dental records, certified by your own dentist. Most dentists feel obliged to ask the reason, but there is no obligation upon the patient to explain why.

There is a third reason, too. The emotional impact on your family is likely to be much more manageable if they have been involved right until the end. 

This is an emerging field. At the present moment (April 2026) none of the four main providers seems entirely settled in their policies. Certainly, the two leading providers (Dignitas and Pegasos) are much more cautious than are the two newer arrivals – Athanasios and Phoenix Care – but that could change quite rapidly.