26 May 2011
Stephen Bowen, Director of the British Institute of Human Rights, said:
“It is disgraceful that basic human rights such as adequate food and drink are not being met in all our hospitals, as the latest Care Quality Commission’s inspections reveal.
“When the Human Rights Act is regularly denigrated by so many of our leaders and media its fundamental role is simply lost. This role is to protect everyone, particularly the most vulnerable people in our society and provide remedies when basic human rights standards are not met.
“Our experience tells us that when people know their rights, they can assert these rights with public services, often without the need to go to court or appoint a lawyer.
“We believe it is crucial that the Government takes leadership on this human rights issue so that we can make quicker progress towards improving standards and begin to stop these failings in basic care.
“BIHR has worked closely with the CQC to ensure human rights are embedded throughout its work, which enables these inspections to properly identify when human rights are being potentially breached.”
Ends
The full CQC press release can be found here.
The first 12 CQC inspection reports can be found here.
A press release in response to the CQC reports, from the Dignity in Care website, can be found here.
Information about the British Geriatrics Society's 'Dignity 2010' campaign can be found here.
Please note that BIHR does not take responsibility for web pages maintained by external providers.
Notes to editors:
1. For more information please contact Jean Candler on 020 7549 0550 / jcandler@bihr.org.uk
2. The British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) is a human rights organisation aiming to bring human rights to life. It empowers people to use human rights to improve their lives, and to develop more effective public policy and practice, through information, training and awareness-raising. www.bihr.org.uk
RSS
The British Institute of Human Rights is a registered charity (1101575) and registered company (4978121).