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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. However, a new report commissioned by Carers UK shows that reality falls a long way short of this ideal.
There are several articles of the Human Rights Act in which Carers UK believes carers' rights may be being violated. These are:
The right to life may seem extreme, but Carers UK research has uncovered carers who have to delay urgent medical treatment because of inadequate support.
The Human Rights Act Article 2 gives the right to have one’s life protected by law. Carers such as Helen (see story on right) are forced her to choose between their own health, and ensuring that the person they care for is not left with serious health implications. Given the seriousness of both Helen’s and her husband’s health problems, the choices she was forced to make could have been life-threatening for either of them.
Carers also have a right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment. Many carers are pushed to the brink of physical and mental collapse because of the lack of support they receive, yet public bodies should take steps to prevent this. Case law indicates that it can be a violation of someone's human rights if they are treated differently because of their situation; and yet a carer awaiting surgery for a serious back problem was forced to continue to help her daughter shower after the local authority withdrew two care staff who had previously provided help (an assessment said it was too risky for the health of their backs). An adapted shower would have helped, but the waiting list was a year long. This example demonstrates the potential for common interest between the disability rights movement and carers'organisations to challenge poor practice and restrictive attitudes to health and safety that do not adequately consider service users' rights.
The human rights of carers have been ignored by public bodies for too long.Carers who face violations can challenge them in the courts. But Carers UK would like to see measures that support carers' human rights, so they do not have to resort to court battles. We would like new legislation that prevents discrimination against people with caring responsibilities, that gives guidance to health and social service providers to ensure that they are clear about their responsibilities, and information on carers' rights. As a first step, there should be an investigation into whether the Human Rights Act is being correctly applied.
A right to an ordinary life cannot be too much to ask for.
