Care Home Owners To Fight Human Rights Act

Care home owners are expected to defend their right to evict residents and maintain profits.

The industry body for private homes says plans to bring them under the Human Rights Act could be used to stop them closing homes, or to get rid of residents who are not paying their bills.

The National Care Association (NCA) will tell its annual conference that patients are already protected from abuse by existing legislation.

advertisementElderly people in private homes are protected by the Care Standards Act 2000, although this does not prevent a care home from evicting a resident.

However, Sheila Scott, of the NCA, insisted: “The sector is already tightly regulated. Care home residents are already well protected from abuse.

“We fear that the extension of the Human Rights Act will only stretch finances in an industry where the margin is only small.”

The NCA conference coincides with a speech in which Cherie Blair, the former prime minister’s wife, is expected to say that 311,00 elderly residents of private care homes do not have the same rights as prisoners.

Earlier this year, five Law Lords ruled that people in independent care homes were outside the scope of the Human Rights Act — which covers prisons — prompting hints that ministers may extend the scope of the Act.