- Conference
- 2008 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 25 February 2008
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference deplores the decision of the House of Lords in the YL case that human rights legislation does not extend to elderly people in private care homes. This decision was taken despite evidence of human rights abuses such as residents being fed breakfast while seated on the toilet and care home residents not being given their weekly Personal Expenses Allowance by the manager of their care home.
The House of Lords judgement was based on the legal proposition that private care homes do not provide “functions of a public nature”. Conference is concerned that the same principle could apply to other contracted out services such as children’s care homes or even fostering and believes that this highlights the difficulties arising from identifying what are and are not public services.
Conference welcomes the following initiatives:
1)The announcement by Ivan Lewis MP, Health and Social Care Minister, that the Government is considering how to amend the Health and Social Care Bill to make care homes providing publicly-arranged accommodation directly subject to duties under the Human Rights Act;
2)Later this year, people funding their own care will for the first time have the right to refer complaints to an independent adjudicator;
3)£2 million funding will be provided for a new joint research initiative between Comic Relief and the Department of Health investigating the dignity and safety of older people being cared for in institutional settings.
However in view of the fact that the rights of elderly people in private care homes are not covered by the Human Rights Act, Conference urges the National Executive Council to take note of recent well documented cases of abuse of elderly people in these institutions and to liaise with the National Pensioners’ Convention, Trades Union Congress and appropriate organisations throughout the UK to campaign to ensure that the human rights of elder people in private care homes, including self-funders, are protected. For the appropriate section of the Human Rights Act to be amended to include this vulnerable group of people.