The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is considering supporting an appeal by the residents of a care home to the Court of Appeal after they lost a key human rights case in the high court. The DRC intervened in the case of Johnson and others v London Borough of Havering to highlight the lack of Human Rights protection open to disabled people in private care homes. The judgment, which has major implications for disabled people, held that a private care home providing accommodation to elderly residents, after these services had been ‘contracted out’ from a local authority, would not be providing a public function under the terms of section 6(3)(b) of the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998, and are therefore not bound by the Act.

The owner of a new care home for dementia sufferers is demanding Essex County Council do much more to address the chronic shortfall of beds in the area. Gavin Sunshine, of Foldcroft, Harlow, has opened Sunshine Residential Care, in Weald Hall Lane, Thornwood, with 39 beds for people suffering Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Mr Sunshine, along with brother and general manager Mark and care manager Mike Stevens, has taken on 20 carers as well as a separate team of support staff.

Examples of evaluations or research projects which measure the impact of service user and carer participation are required for new good practice guidance by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).  The research – which SCIE has commissioned to Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) – aims to fill the gap in knowledge SCIE identified in the position paper Has service user participation made a difference to social care services? SCIE found that service user and carer participation is not routinely evaluated so the difference it makes to the services people use is therefore unknown.

One in 10 social worker jobs in Cambridgeshire is vacant. Low wages and the stress of the job were blamed for a 10.7 per cent vacancy rate. Asked by Coun Mandy Smith, why the rate was so high, Coun Shona Johnstone, Cambridgshire County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services, replied: “Would you like to be a social worker?”

Social Care services should focus on meeting the needs and aspirations of local people rather than agencies being preoccupied with internal processes and ticking boxes was the clear message at a conference held at Lancaster University recently. The social care conference, entitled “Delivering Positive Outcomes”, was organised and hosted by Lancashire County Council to give health and social care staff across the North West the opportunity to hear from key thinkers and share good practice and innovation across adult social care.

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) is looking forward to its role in the plans for patient and public involvement in health and social care outlined in today’s publication ‘A stronger local voice: A framework for creating a stronger local voice in the development of health and social care services’. The Department of Health (DH) framework specifically mentions that SCIE will promote and support public and patient involvement by providing resources for commissioners, providers and regulators. Today’s announcement reinforces the messages of increased user control and choice outlined in the recent health and social care White Paper Our Health, Our Care, Our Say.

Support from social care agencies to enable people to live at home in the advent of a disability or long-term health condition is a key expectation of the British public, an Ipsos MORI survey  reveals today. The Ipsos MORI survey, commissioned by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), the Equal Opportunities Commission and Carers UK, however, reveals a gulf between the public’s expectations about the kind of support they should receive and the reality of existing provision. This gulf is set to widen as the UK population ages and demand for social care grows, underscoring the need to reform the current system so that it enables both older and disabled people, and their relatives and friends who provide care for them, to keep their independence.

Social workers need to be more accessible, follow through on their promises and see children alone during visits, according to a new report released by the Children’s Rights Director. Most children and young people made very positive comments about their social workers, overall rating them eight out of 10. However, as with any group of people, there are good and bad ones. There are areas where change is necessary to ensure children receive the care they are entitled to.

The British government is violating the right of failed asylum seekers to health care, according to the BMJ. Since the start of the National Health Service, British doctors have taken pride in working in a service whose core principles include healthcare as a basic human right and a universal service for all based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Yet the reality is different, writes Peter Hall of Doctors for Human Rights.

In the light of recent revelations about the abuse in social care services in Cornwall, the R&RA is gravely concerned that the regulatory authorities could now be failing to prevent similar abuse in care homes for older people. The Chief Executive of R&RA, Gillian Dalley, has written to the Secretary of State for Health, Patricia Hewitt, asking her to rethink her decision in March this year to reduce the frequency of care home inspections.