Amendments To Care Bill To Ensure Protection For The Elderly

New measures have been announced to ensure that older people are protected in the care system.

Ivan Lewis, minister for care services, has set out amendments to the health and social care bill to make care homes subject to duties under the human rights act.

Mr Lewis said he was: “Announcing a new package of measures which will strengthen the protection of vulnerable older people in our care system. In an ageing society the way we treat older people is one of the top priorities for the government.”

Another part of the amendments will be to ensure that people funding their own care have the right to refer complaints to an independent adjudicator.

The government is also launching a £2 million research project with Comic Relief to investigate the risk to elderly people on NHS wards. The project is scheduled to run until 2011.

Recent research from Helping Hands found that 18 per cent of people would put an elderly relative into a care home instead of looking after them within the family unit.