Commissioning for human rights
in home care for older people
A self-service introduction for
elected members in England –
training resource 4
Older people and home care
• At its best, home care:
– Helps people to stay in their own home
– Supports independence and selfdetermination
– Promotes dignity and respect
Older people and home care
• When home care fails
– People can be
• left without support to eat and drink
• left unwashed for days
• unable to engage with their culture, practice their
religion or develop relationships
• rushed, handled roughly, financially exploited –
abused
• isolated and lonely
Human rights
• UK Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA)
expresses the European Convention on
Human Rights in domestic law
• Public service and social care values of
dignity, respect, fairness and choice
support each person’s human rights
Obligations and duties
• As representatives of public authorities elected
members must act in line with the wide range of
rights and freedoms protected by the HRA
and
• Because of the HRA elected members must also
take positive steps to promote and protect
HRA rights
Just to be clear…
Public authorities also have duties under the
Equality Act 2010.
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) requires
public authorities to consider the need to advance
equality and eliminate discrimination.
Often an Equality Impact Assessment is used to
demonstrate that the PSED has been met,
although this is not a legal requirement.
Home care
Most relevant HRA Articles:
• Right to life (Article 2) – can be breached if an
inadequate level of support leads to physical or mental
deterioration which contributes to a person’s death
• Freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment
(Article 3) – any treatment which causes serious mental
or physical harm
• Right to liberty and security (Article 5) – no-one should
be deprived of their liberty (for example being locked into
their home) unless proper procedures are followed
Home care
• Right to respect for private and family
life, home and correspondence (Article
8) – can include
– Privacy to make phone calls, right not to
share information
– Ensuring personal modesty is protected
– Acceptance or refusal of particular services
– Eating, sleeping or dressing according to
personal preference
– Being with who you want, when you want
Home care
• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
(Article 9) – to practise one’s faith, alone or with
others, observing dietary or other requirements
• Right not to be discriminated against (Article 14)
– in relation to another right protected by the HRA
• Right to protection of property (Article 1 of the
first Protocol) – includes financial rights and keeping
belongings safe
What positive steps can elected members
take to help promote and protect the
human rights of older people receiving
home care?
Talk the talk…
• Remember and communicate shared core values of
dignity, respect, choice, fairness and equality which
reflect human rights obligations
• Ask questions in your decision making or scrutiny role
when services are being commissioned – use the
‘Question suggestions’ in this resource pack to examine
the quality of service outcomes, sustainability,
safeguarding and personalisation
• Dispel myths in the community and with colleagues by
using accurate facts about human rights which protect
everyone – ‘Quickfacts and Sources’ and ‘Myths and
Minefields’ are useful tools
• Check out news reports – dig deeper and use the
sources links
…and walk the walk
• Apply core values consistently – in decision or
policy making, scrutiny and community
leadership
• Leadership and the law – you have obligations
under the HRA and the Public Sector Equality
Duty under the Equality Act 2010
• Ensure service/contractual obligations include
the requirement for service providers to ‘act as
though they were a public body under the HRA’
Remember
• The Human Rights Act protects everyone
equally – sensationalist headlines can be
misleading
• Older people are some of the most vulnerable in
our communities
• Use the resources included in the ‘Information
and training toolkit for elected members’
• Ask – organisations and experts if you need
more information
Further information from the
Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Close to home: an inquiry into older people and human
rights in home care (2011)
• Guidance on human rights for commissioners of home
care (2013)
• Close to home recommendations review (2013)
• Your home care and human rights (Revised ed. 2013)
• All these publications available at:
www.equalityhumanrights.com