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Proceeding contribution from Andrew Dismore (Labour) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 13 March 2008. It occurred during Adjournment debate on Older People's Rights (Health Care).


Older People's Rights (Health Care)

Indeed. The more one gets into it, the more complicated it becomes. That is why the Committee decided to propose a relatively narrow amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill to return the position with care homes to how it was before YL. That is the cleanest way of dealing with the matter in the interim. There are wider issues to be addressed, but not by using the Bill. Other things can be done to provide those protections, without necessarily involving the Human Rights Act. The issue is very complicated. I agree with my hon. Friend the Minister that demography is one of the great challenges facing society. When he spoke about policy-making guidance and the impact assessment, he said that human rights are part of the equality duty, but it is the other way around. Human rights provide all-embracing, universal protection, of which equality is one element. He might like to reconsider that point. The hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris), who is an active member of my Committee, talked about the need for NICE to have a positive duty to promote human rights, and I do not disagree with that point. He also spoke about quality-adjusted life years, which we should discuss in more detail in future. Once we started to tackle that subject, we realised that it is incredibly complicated. The hon. Member for Leeds, North-West (Greg Mulholland) talked about the duty of confidentiality. That issue is important, and it is raised in our report. The hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) raised several important issues. He also echoed my tribute to all those who do good work. As my hon. Friend the Minister said, it is important that we do not forget that many people do a lot of good work in difficult circumstances. When we focus on aberrations, that should not take away from their work. We need a rights-based approach from the new commission, as the hon. Member for Eddisbury said, and I am sure that we will keep returning to that point. The YL case is a thorn in the side of everyone who is involved in this business, and I hope that the Government will propose their amendments when the Bill starts its progress through the other place. Question put and agreed to.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
473 c149-50WH 
Session
2007-08
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Subjects
Care homes Hospitals Health services Human rights Hospital wards Hospital beds NHS Older people Mental health services Standards Joint Committee on Human Rights
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk