Human Rights Health Care Framework

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.