Do Carers Have Human Rights?

Submitted by tonyplant on March 16, 2006 - 17:50.

Carers UK is asking whether carers have human rights.  Carers UK report that

Carers, like everyone else in the UK, are entitled to rely on the protection of the Human Rights Act 1998, which should ensure that public bodies take account of their human rights when they provide services. Public services play a critical role in guaranteeing carers' human rights. They can ensure that carers have the support they need to maintain a normal life. The report we are publishing today shows that reality falls a long way short of this ideal.

 

Many carers are pushed to the brink of physical and mental collapse because of the lack of support they receive...

Why do carers seem to be the only group of people who are automatically exempt from the restrictions of the working time directive? Why are carers expected to work under conditions that are assessed as too much of a health and safety hazard for trained professionals? The Guardian offers several grim stories of overworked and exhausted carers that will be only too familiar to many people. In the light of today's news about tightening of eligibility criteria for care for elderly or disabled people, it seems as if relief will not arrive any time in the near future.

 

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project

social care | human rights | carers | caregivers