THE human rights of people in care are at risk of being disregarded by slow progress towards allowing visits after the pandemic and the wrong use of resuscitation notices, MPs found today.
 
The Joint Committee on Human Rights said that restrictions which were introduced during the pandemic are still preventing people from visiting residents in some care homes in England.
 
MPs sitting on the committee warned that the situation has continued despite government guidance which says “there should not normally be any restrictions to visits into or out of the care home.”
 
The group said that it is concerned Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) notices and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are not being used properly, meaning someone’s liberty can be wrongly withheld.

Committee chairwoman and SNP MP Joanna Cherry called for “careful balance” between protecting human rights and preventing harm.
 
“We are concerned that too often safeguards are not being applied correctly,” she said.
 
“Measures that should be tailored to individual needs, whether it concerns the right to a visit from a loved one or the question of whether someone should be resuscitated, are instead applied across a ward or age group.”

Relatives & Residents Association director Helen Wildbore said: “The committee’s report is a damning indictment of the failure to protect people placed in the most vulnerable of situations.

“From the lack of action of the regulator to the lack of training for care staff, older people are being left at risk of having their fundamental rights breached.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “It is completely unacceptable for DNACPR orders to be applied in any kind of blanket fashion and we have taken decisive action to address this, including making sure the health and social care workforce know the rules and how they should be applied.”