CLOSE RIGHTS LOOPHOLE FOR OLDER PEOPLE ASAP, SAYS MEP
May 7, 2008 2:52 PM
Local Euro-MP Liz Lynne is urging the government to move quickly to close a loophole that exempts thousands of older people in the UK from human rights legislation. She has also raised the issue with the EU institutions by amending a parliamentary question on elder abuse, which will be debated later this month.
Leading Age Charities estimate that over 10% of older people have experienced some form of serious age related abuse, whether this is physical, psychological or financial. But in the UK older people resident in private care homes are excluded from the 1998 Human Rights Act because it was ruled that private homes do not carry out a 'public function' in caring for people referred by local authorities.
After speaking in a debate in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee on elder abuse, LibDem MEP Liz Lynne, Vice President of the Committee, said:
"The fact that private care home residents are not covered by UK human rights legislation has shocked many of my colleagues in the European Parliament and is an appalling scandal which the Government should have addressed long ago. This loophole means that private care home residents have less legal protection from abuse than any other EU country.
"There are also major differences in rules in the establishment and scrutiny of private care homes across the EU which need further investigation and action. Older Abuse is a major, often unacknowledged, scandal that must no longer be swept under the carpet. It happens in personal homes, residential and nursing homes, hospitals, and day centres, every single day."
ENDS
Notes:
A debate on the issue of elder abuse based around the following Oral Parliamentary Question, will take place during the European Parliament's May plenary session in Strasbourg. (Liz Lynne amendments in bold italic):
Abuse of older people is increasingly being seen as an important societal problem and one that could well grow as many countries experience rapidly ageing population. It has been estimated that as many as 10% of older people experience some form of physical, psychological, financial or mental abuse, be it in domestic settings or in care institutions. Increased support must be offered to carers, particularly those unpaid, in order to ensure adequate facilities to care for dependents.
Will the communication present a comprehensive European strategy for preventing and tackling elder abuse which shall urge Member States to acknowledge the scale of the problem and support Member States in their efforts to protect the dignity of older people?
Will the Commission consider the appropriate actions in this respect such as raising awareness, funding of relevant research projects, definition of quality standards for care institutions and home care services, developing training modules for professional and family carers and financial support services for the latter, encouraging Member States who have not done so to ensure human rights legislation covers people in privately owned care homes and organisation of exchange of good practices between Member States?
While there are differences in rules in opening private and state-run care homes in other Member States such as Poland, and these rules may also lead to insufficient scrutiny of private homes, of all EU Member States, only in the UK are certain care home residents excluded from major human rights legislation.
In recent years it has emerged that a suspected half a million older people in the UK suffer abuse or neglect and in 80% of cases the abuser is known to the victim.
Liz Lynne MEP has hosted several seminars on elder abuse and age discrimination, most recently giving a keynote speech on elder abuse at a major Help the Aged conference in London in December 2007. She has also tabled several European Parliamentary questions on the subject.
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