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Human Rights Act Study Guide — by Seniz — last modified Dec 16, 2008 04:30 PM

Note This is the third edition of the Guide. It aims to take account of developments in the six years since the Human Rights Act came into force. Although every effort has been made to ensure that the Guide is as accurate and uptodate as possible at the date of publication, it cannot be taken to be an authoritative statement of the law. It is not intended, and must not be used, as a substitute for taking proper legal advice. The early drafts of the first edition were written by a group of barristers under the general editorship of the late Peter Duffy QC, whose work in advancing the cause of human rights was tireless and to whose memory the first edition was dedicated. The first edition was finally prepared under the joint editorship of Robin Allen QC and the Human Rights Unit (then based at the Home Office). The Unit, now the Human Rights Division of the Department for Constitutional Affairs, Robin Allen QC and Henrietta Hill, barristers, prepared the second edition. Henrietta Hill has also assisted with the third edition

Human Rights Health Care Framework — by Seniz — last modified Dec 16, 2008 04:39 PM

This year, we celebrate the 60th anniversary of both the National Health Service and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These two important historical landmarks are based on the common values of fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy (FREDA) for all. This is because healthcare and human rights are dependent upon each other. Quite simply, we cannot provide good care without respect for human rights. Currently, we are looking to the future with the Next Stage Review setting the direction for the NHS and a new NHS Constitution. It is essential that, as we move forward, we have these values at the heart of everything we do. The Human Rights Act incorporated these values into our law, in order to embed them into all public services. Sometimes however, human rights in public services are seen as an issue for the legal department. In the Human Rights in Healthcare project, we have shown that taking a human rights based approach can provide a way for everyone in an organisation to make real improvements in people’s lives. The project has been a collaboration between five NHS organisations, the British Institute of Human Rights and the Department of Health. The learning from this project has been incorporated into this new edition of Human Rights in Healthcare – A framework for local action, which aims to show how a human rights based approach can be of practical value to organisations and individuals providing better services for patients and service users. I would like to thank the five organisations who have worked on showing how a human rights based approach can improve the design and delivery of services: Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Southwark Health and Social Care, Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT, Mersey Care NHS Trust and Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust. In addition, I would like thank the British Institute of Human Rights, ROI Operations and Ipsos MORI for their work on this project. I hope that you are able to use and build upon the learning in this document in your own organisation to use human rights to help make the values of the NHS a reality.

Human Rights Commissioning — by Seniz — last modified Dec 16, 2008 04:47 PM

Human Rights and Commissioning A report from a Learning event held on July 17 2008 in Southwark 1. Introduction 2. Opening remarks 3. Overview of presentations 4. Summary of key learning 5. Closing remarks 6. Links to further resources 7. Links to speaker presentations 1. Introduction This event provided a forum for healthcare professionals to discuss how human rights principles and standards can best be integrated into the commissioning process. A number of key questions were addressed including: • What are human rights and why are they relevant to commissioning healthcare services? • How do we ensure that human rights outcomes are reflected in the commissioning framework or service specifications? • How can we monitor human rights outcomes? • How can we best build the capacity of commissioners, providers and service users to understand the importance of human rights to healthcare? ‘Human rights and commissioning’ is the last in a series of three learning events that are being run as part of the Department of Health’s (DH) national Human Rights in Healthcare project, in conjunction with five NHS Trusts and with the support of the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR). This report provides an overview of the speaker presentations and pulls together key learning points that emerged from the discussions. Links to other information and resources on human rights are provided at the end of the report, along with links to speaker’s presentations. The day started with context setting presentations by DH on the commissioning context followed by an input from BIHR on Human Rights and initial thoughts on the links. The rest of the day combined other presentations and exploratory discussions amongst participants of examples of where human rights can be considered and incorporated in the commissioning process. In this way the event served as an important step in identifying the broad links between human rights and commissioning and existing good practice as opposed to a detailed discussion of what good human rights or combined human rights and equality practice in terms of commissioning looks like.

Human Rights and Equality Report — by Seniz — last modified Dec 16, 2008 04:50 PM

Introduction • How do human rights and equality relate to each other in principle? • How can using a human rights based approach support tackling discrimination and recognising diversity in practice? • How can human rights ideas and frameworks add value or be integrated to existing equality initiatives such as single equality schemes or equality impact assessments? These were the main questions discussed at ‘Human rights, equality and healthcare’ – the first in a series of three learning events that are being run as part of the Departments of Health’s national Human Rights in Healthcare Project, in conjunction with five NHS Trusts and with the support of the British Institute of Human Rights. These learning events aim to provide a forum for health and social care professionals to share learning and good practice and to stimulate and inform further work on human rights in the sector. This report provides an overview of the speaker presentations and pulls together key learning points that emerged from the discussions. Links to further information and resources on human rights are provided at the end of the report, along with links to speaker’s presentations. The event generated a huge amount of interest and was very well attended. The discussions was rich and attendees offered thought-provoking and useful ideas around human rights and equality issues.

Human Rights Act Exploring the Myths — by Seniz — last modified Dec 16, 2008 04:55 PM