Last Updated on December 16, 2022
To mark global Human Rights Day, which took place on 10th December, care organisations, including the National Care Forum and The Relatives and Residents' Association co-signed a letter calling on the Government to stand firm on human rights protections in the UK.
The letter, signed by 158 organisations says that the Government’s Bill of Rights Bill, despite its name, would have a detrimental impact on people relying on care services and on the work of care providers. In the context of the cost-of-living crisis, it would force millions into vulnerability and further discrimination, the letter highlights ‘the last thing anyone needs is for a Government to strip away our fundamental legal protections’.
Those having signed the letter say the fact that the Prime Minister recently ‘deprioritised’ the Bill of Rights Bill is very welcome, but the threat to rights will continue until the Bill is dropped entirely. Organisations also added that they are against any action which weakens the rights of people needing care and said they are also concerned that the Bill of Rights Bill would make the work of the already stretched care workforce more difficult.
Helen Wildbore, director of R&RA, said, ‘The rights of older people needing care have been decimated by the Government’s mismanagement of the pandemic. And now they plan to weaken rights protections and make it harder to hold those in power to account. The Government must drop their Bill of Rights Bill and instead focus their energy on repairing the damage of the last three years, supporting the sector out of the workforce crisis and ending the isolation in care for good.’
Read the full letter on the British Institute of Human Rights website.
In other news, Age UK is appealing to the public to keep supporting the older people in their lives and to stay in touch to ensure they are managing to keep warm and eat well, despite soaring prices.