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Older people are being subjected to abuse in hospitals and care homes‚ warns Age Concern in a new report¹‚ which labels human rights as 'an invisible issue' in health and social care.

The charity’s report laments the limited progress made one year on from a damning parliamentary report that recommended an 'entire culture change'² to tackle the human rights abuses experienced by older people in the NHS and care system.

It includes shameful testimonies of older people being left to sit in their own excrement or denied food and water because the staff are too busy; being left naked in front of other patients; or being heavily sedated so they are easier to care for.

Other examples of human rights breaches include people being evicted from care homes because they dared to complain or who are being cruelly separated from their life-long partner simply because their care needs are different.³

Mrs Norma Scott was appalled by the way a Yorkshire hospital treated her father when he was admitted because his GP was worried about pains in his joints and renal impairment.

She kept a diary during the four weeks he was a patient which she used to make a number of complaints to the hospital and the Healthcare Commission. She says:

"We were told my father needed to be given extra fluids for his kidneys‚ but he wasn't given any help to drink water or to pass fluids. He couldn't use the water jug left by his bed as he couldn't sit up.

“After six days I spoke to a doctor. When a drip and a catheter were fitted‚ two litres of urine were drained off. He died of renal failure.

“My father should not have been treated this way. It took months to get my complaint heard and I have been battling for many more months to get the hospital to implement the Action Plan. No one checks change has happened – it’s all taken on trust."

Some progress has been made by the Government‚ namely in extending human rights protection to more – but not all – people living in care homes and its commitment to outlaw age discrimination in health and social care in the forthcoming Equality Bill. But more needs to be done to improve the quality of health and care services‚ beginning by putting all human rights values at the core of everything they do.

The charity is calling on the Government to seize the opportunities presented by its reform programme by embedding human rights in the NHS Constitution and putting them at the heart of its plans for reform of health and social care regulation.

Service providers must also do more to support the good work of the majority of their staff who are caring for older people. They must step up to the mark by adopting good practice and by making the commitment to human rights within their organisations.

Gordon Lishman‚ director general of Age Concern‚ said:

“Failing to meet basic rights is not acceptable. No one should have to go without help with eating and drinking or using the toilet‚ yet this is still happening everyday in hospitals and care homes. It’s horrendous that people are still being mistreated and abused.

“Human rights are not visible enough in Government policy and are even more difficult to see in practice. Despite the excellent care provided by many health and care workers there is much work to be done to change the culture of health and social care.

“Without a commitment from policy makers and staff to uphold people’s human rights we cannot be confident our loved ones will be treated with dignity or respect.”

- ENDS -

Notes to editors

Age Concern England spokespeople are available for interview on Thursday 28 August. Please contact Zena Ambrose for more details.

1.  'On the right track'‚ Age Concern England‚ August 2008. Copies of the report can be downloaded for free from Age Concern’s website or ordered from its Policy Unit.
2. 'The Human Rights of Older People in Healthcare'‚ Joint Committee on Human Rights‚ 18th report of session 2006-07‚ 14 August 2007. The Report examines how human rights principles can be applied to ensure that older people in hospitals and care homes are treated with greater dignity and respect and states that an entire culture change is needed. In the Committee’s view there is a significant distinction between a 'duty to provide' under care standards legislation and a 'right to receive' under human rights legislation.
3. The Convention on Human Rights was drawn up after World War II with the aim of preventing the horrific abuses people suffered during the conflict from happening again. The articles of the Convention were incorporated into UK law in The Human Rights Act 1998.

Articles from the Human Rights Convention	Examples of malpractice or abuse of this right
Article 2: The right to life	Abuse of anti-psychotic drugs Malnutrition in hospitals and care homes Unsafe hospital discharge
Article 3: Freedom from inhumane and degrading treatment	Use of toilet in hospital Abuse and neglect
Article 8: Right respect for private and family life‚ one's home and correspondence	Older couples being separated in different care homes Mixed sex accommodation Care home evictions

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