How fair is Britain?Human Rights Review 2012

An assessment of how well government protects human rights in health and social care in Britain

Equality and Human Rights Commission

The Commission was created under the Equality Act 2006.

• We are a National Human Rights Institution• We have a mandate to protect and promote human rights• We have a specific obligation to monitor and report on

human rights situation and progress

Human rights are part of our history and inform our government, judicial

system and institutions

Health and social care commissioners and service providers do not always understand

their human rights obligations and the regulator’s approach is not always effective in identifying and preventing human rights

abuses

Article 3: Freedom from torture, and inhumane or degrading treatment or punishmentInhumane treatment or punishment:If treatment or punishment causes intense physical or mental

suffering, but is not severe enough to amount to torture, it is defined as inhumane treatment. Physical assaults can amount to inhumane treatment if sufficiently serious.

Degrading treatment or punishment:Degrading treatment or punishment arouses a feeling of fear,

anguish and inferiority and humiliates and debases the victim.

Article 8: Respect for private and family life, home and correspondencePrivate life:Includes an individual’s physical and psychological integrity, personal

or private space, personal information, identity, personal autonomy and sexuality, self development, relation with others and reputation.

Family life:The concept of family life covers engaged couples, cohabiting couples

and same-sex couples. It covers relationships with siblings, foster parents and foster children and grandparents and grandchildren 

Home:A ‘home’ has been described as ‘the place, the physically defined

area, where private and family life develops’

People who use health and social care services may be at risk of inhumane or degrading treatment

• People receiving health or social care from private and voluntary sector providers do not have the same level of direct protection under the Human Rights Act as from public bodies.

• Local authorities do not make the most effective use of the scope that they have for protecting and promoting human rights when commissioning care from other providers.

• Better inspections of all care settings are needed.

Not enough is done to protect the dignity and autonomy of people who use health and social care services

• There is a lack of awareness, both within local authorities and among care staff, of how human rights obligations apply in a health and social care setting.

• Better complaints systems are needed across the health and social care sectors.

• Increased pressure on health and social care budgets puts the Article 8 rights of services users at risk.

Next steps

• Our findings supported the Commission’s submission to the UN’s Universal Periodic Review and future work in this area

• Findings have shaped our strategic plan for the next three years

• The Commission will work with both Government and other stakeholders over next 3 years