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On 14 May 2007, Prof Peter Crome, Pauline Ford (RCN), Jenny Owen and Swayne Johnson (ADASS) and Dr Gill Morgan (NHS Confederation gave evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights as part of the latter’s inquiry into the human rights of older people in health care. Prof Crome outlined the main human rights issues for the Committee, highlighting areas such as privacy, dignity and confidentiality. He said that there was a general lack of encouragement for people to make themselves heard and he emphasised that there was too much pressure to discharge people from hospital, perhaps prematurely.

Ms Ford agreed in principle with Conservative peer, Lord Onslow’s suggestion that a lack of understanding of concepts of the Act lay behind instances of poor behaviour by care staff. She said that abuses by staff were not widespread but that human rights could be used as a lever to ensure that older people received the treatment and attention they needed. Ms Ford agreed that there was a need for all nurses to be educated in human rights and said that there had been decades of challenges within the UK to try to get society to view ageing in a more positive light. Failure to do this was part of a cultural problem.

Full report available from the BGS website.