---

Health and Social Care Bill

I support these amendments and should like to make two points. On self-funders, the Minister with responsibility for care in another place has said publicly on many occasions that this is the total unintended consequence. It was never intended that self-funders should be treated in this way and not be given the help and advice that they need. I very much hope that the Government will do something about that very soon—certainly, in the Green Paper which will shortly be brought forward. At the moment, it is an absolute disaster for self-funders. We all know that it is very difficult to have a home worth £21,000 or less in this country. Therefore, to be a self-funder you do not have to be particularly wealthy. As regards complaints and human rights, one of the obvious places to go is the Equality and Human Rights Commission, on which I am a commissioner. But there are severe limitations to what the commission can do on human rights. It is absolutely essential that the Care Quality Commission takes up these cases of complaint. The EHRC can comment, hold inquiries and be an advocate on issues such as dealing with policies, but individual cases cannot be taken up in same way as equality cases. Therefore, the CQC must take on this role very thoroughly, with gusto, and really sort out these problems. As the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, has said, some of these issues may be minor but, in many cases, they are major issues, which affect people’s lives and, sometimes, cost them their lives.