Dignity Should Be `Indivisibly Tied’ To The Caring Process

Directors of adult social care have reaffirmed their support for the Government’s dignity initiative which was given an additional boost by social care Minister Ivan Lewis. According to ADSS President John Coughlan “the primacy of person-centred care within an inclusive society, and close working with partner agencies are the twin touchstones of all our work with older people.”

He confirmed, too, that ADSS is pleased to be part of the Department of Health’s Dignity in Care Group that is devoted to raising the importance of respecting people’s dignity when receiving care services. And he fully agreed with Ivan Lewis’s demand for `zero tolerance’ for any lack of respect for dignity when delivering care services and for compassion to be put back into the way care services are provided.

“To be treated with dignity at all times is a fundamental human right and should be indivisibly tied to the caring process itself. It has a growing importance and relevance in a society which demands greater tolerance to ethnic and religious diversity than ever before.”

He also stressed the `vital importance’ of additional resources: “Whilst the ADSS welcomes the report it once again reinforces the necessity for additional resources to be invested in our care services to enable us to provide higher volumes of service in general, and extra training for care staff working with older people in particular.”