Watchdog publishes guide to home care and human rights for older people

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published a guide on home care and human rights for older people, their families and friends.

The watchdog said the guide, Your rights to home care, “aims to empower older people so they know they are entitled to a home care service that respects their human rights, however funded, and what to do if those rights are at risk”.

The EHRC developed the guide after an inquiry it conducted in 2011, Close to home, found evidence of poor treatment breaching some individuals’ human rights and that older people were often reluctant to complain.

The guide addresses the following:

  • What is home care;
  • How people can get home care and what their rights are;
  • What standards they can expect from their home care;
  • What their legal rights are when using home care;
  • What they can do if they are unhappy with their home care;
  • How to get help with making a complaint; and
  • Where they can find out more information about their rights.

The guide is not, however, legal advice and in this regard specifically tells readers to consult one of the organisations listed or a lawyer.

A copy of the guidance can be found here.

Baroness Sally Greengross, Home Care inquiry Lead Commissioner at the EHRC, said: “We hope that this guide will offer a lifeline to older people and their support networks in helping them to understand what their rights to home care are. Choosing a home care service for yourself or a loved one can be a complicated and emotional process so any help the Commission can offer to provide clarity has to be a good thing.”

Gary Fitzgerald, Chief Executive of Action on Elder Abuse. said: “Our experience tells us that older people often do not know their rights, and can find it difficult to raise concerns about the quality and reliability of their care. This easy to understand guide will therefore be a useful aid to ensuring that they can both understand and access their rights."