Council home care services violating basic human rights says report

Care for the elserly at their own homes are “seriously failing” and in many cases violate the basic human rights of the elderly, a report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission has found.

The EHRC examined the work of about 54% of local authorities and took evidence from over 250 home care providers and over 500 elderly individuals.

The report reveals that the home carers are so stretched that they often have to make choices between washing the elderly people or cooking a meal for them.  While the objective of home care is to ensure that the essential needs of the elderly are met in reality, carers have to make choices between needs.

The report found that some elderly people are left in their beds for over 17 hours or more between care visits and many people are being left in soiled beds and clothes for long periods. In addition, the huge turnover among staff meaning some people have a huge number of different carers performing intimate tasks such as washing and dressing. In one case a woman recorded having 32 different carers over a two week period.

The lack of staff also means that care visits can be as short as 15 minutes and timing is often inappropriate, for example, some elderly people are being put to bed as early as 5 pm.

Neil Crowther, the human rights director of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said these failings are putting “very basic rights at risk.”

“The right to life, the right to live free of inhuman and degrading treatment and the right to a family life,” he added. “”We have incidences of where people are being left in bed for long periods or not being supplied with meals.”

This was an interim report of a major inquiry into home care being conducted by the Commission and the final report is expected to be published in November this year.

The Alzheimer’s Society claimed its own research echoed the Commission’s findings which show how the social care system is guilty of “outrageous neglect”.

“People with dementia are some of the biggest users of social care, with many of the half a million currently living in the community needing help with everyday tasks such as eating, drinking and going to the toilet,” it said in a statement. “We know that care workers want to do a good job but they need further training, support and time to provide good quality care. This report once again underlies the urgent need for a workable social care funding system.’

The Local Government Association acknolwedged that there is a huge problem with the home care system in England but said the current failings are there despite the best intentions of councils.

David Rogers, chair of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, pointed out that there are “long term triple pressures of insufficient funding, growing demand and escalating costs,” which coupled with the funding cuts is taking the social care system near breaking point. He urged the government to reform the current system.

But some stakeholders are not keen to let local authorities get away so easily. “‘Let’s not mince words about what the findings show – leaving someone in soiled beds or clothing for a long time or failing to ensure that an older person is able to eat or drink is serious neglect and should be treated as such,” Michelle Mitchell from Age UK said.

“Providing personal care for older people should not be about completing tasks in whatever is the quickest or cheapest way.”