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Care Homes

Answer

This Government recognise how upsetting it can be for people to have to move from a care home that they see as their true home. It is important for people who need care and support to be accommodated in appropriate settings, and it is clearly not desirable if someone is forced to move from a care home where they are happy and settled and their needs are being met. No assessment of the implications of older people required to leave a care home has been carried out by government. This is because the responsibility for providing or arranging residential care rests with local authorities, not central government. Local authorities have a duty to protect the interests of the people they are responsible for in care homes. In addition, the regulator—the Care Quality Commission (CQC)—has a role in ensuring care is meeting the necessary standards and that quality is maintained. If a person were evicted from a care home—for any reason—we would expect the local authority, CQC and the person's family to collaborate to ensure that the person was placed in a suitable setting at minimal disruption. It is unlawful for a public body to breach any person's human rights. The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. Under Article 9 of the Convention, everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, ““public body”” includes any provider that supplies accommodation together with nursing or personal care on behalf of a local authority. The Human Rights Act 1998 does not give residents a guarantee they can remain in a care home for life. The details of the contract, including the arrangements for ending the contract, are a matter for negotiation between the care home and the person or organisation commissioning the care. Under the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a person on the grounds of religion or belief in the provision of its services (including the termination of the provision of the service). Information on older people evicted from care homes is not collected centrally.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

8634; 727 c231-2WA

Session

2010-12

Subjects

Care homes Discrimination Evictions Protection Older people Religion

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk