Adass responds to home care human rights claims

President of ADASS, Peter Hay has called for a wider debate on looking after elderly people in need of care and support, following a damning report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the quality of home care in England.

Findings from the Commission’s Inquiry into the home care system (insert link), describes the treatment of many elderly as breaching human rights.  

The report highlights cases of physical abuse, theft, neglect and disregard for privacy and dignity. On many occasions support for tasks such as washing and dressing was dehumanising and left people “stripped of self-worth”.

Over half of the people giving evidence to the Inquiry were satisfied with the care they receive, but others made a number of common complaints, including:

·       insufficient support for eating and drinking

·       neglect because workers stick too rigidly to tasks

·       financial abuse, including systematic theft of money over a period of time.

The Commission says thousands of elderly people lack protection under the Human Rights Act, and is asking for the legal loophole to be closed.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Director of ADASS, Peter Hay said:

“We need to learn from what’s working well and extend that across the sector. The government is considering legal reform and placing dignity at its heart. Taking a human rights approach is key, along with giving people more choice and control to decide who comes into their home to do these tasks.”

Referring to spending cuts, Mr Hay said: 

“Resources do not excuse some of the unacceptable and intolerable practices at the very extreme end, but resources paint a context. We have to address the government’s promise to reform, by deciding what we want for older people as a society, and how we’re prepared to pay for it.  Part of that is recognising we need a modern care system with a proper resource base. We can’t just go on saying there’s a gap between needs and resources, we need to close that gap, not just with money but also with some of the new approaches that are beginning to emerge.

“It’s also something that as a society we’ve got to have a debate about, we’ve got to support politicians in making these choices and to create the proper environment for proper care of older people.”

Inquiry into homecare system

Peter Hay audio