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The @CommonsHealth evidence session investigating concerns around the treatment of autistic people & individuals with learning disabilities in NHS facilities has just begun.
We will be watching along.
You can watch here
https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/3b158af2-8de1-4df3-abdb-0ab1fb6d9c9b
We will be watching along.
You can watch here
https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/3b158af2-8de1-4df3-abdb-0ab1fb6d9c9b
First to speak about her experiences is @AQuinnUnbroken. "When I reflect on my time in the system, I think of being othered and being treated less than human."
"I needed help but the help I got wasn't appropriate." @AQuinnUnbroken describing a number of human rights issues that she faced.
Long term seclusion and restraint can impact a number of our human rights including right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment, right to liberty and right to private and family life.
"We need to take a rights based approach to people in crisis... Its about system change." @AQuinnUnbroken
The panel are currently discussing the impact of Covid-19 on people with autism and/or LD. Many of the issues raised by the panel today are mirrored in the findings in our research on the human rights implications of the UK Gov's response to Covid-19: https://www.bihr.org.uk/joint-committee-human-rights-inquiry
"Its never in someone's best interest to be far away from their families and home... Provision needs to be closer to people's home".
This also impacts people's right to private and family life.
This also impacts people's right to private and family life.
Over the past years, many people with learning disabilities and autism, alongside their friends, families and supporters have been campaigning for the human rights to be respected. For example, the #StrippedofHumanRights campaign https://www.bihr.org.uk/blog/the-strippedofhumanrights-protests
https://www.bihr.org.uk/blog/the-strippedofhumanrights-protests
The panel have talked today about the role of commissioning. Read our blog from last year on the need for human rights in commissioning
https://www.bihr.org.uk/blog/the-need-for-human-rights-in-commissioning
https://www.bihr.org.uk/blog/the-need-for-human-rights-in-commissioning
The panel are moving on to talk about seclusion, long term segregation and restraint. All issues which impact human rights such as right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment, right to liberty and right to private and family life.
Under the #HumanRightsAct it is never lawful for a person to be treated in a way that is unhuman or degrading way (whether intended or not) by a public authority or person who works in a public authority.
If rights such as the right to liberty and right to private and family life are being impacted, any restriction must be:
Lawful
Legitimate
Proportionate.
This means that it has the be the least restrictive option available.
Lawful LegitimateProportionate. This means that it has the be the least restrictive option available.
You can find more practical information and support about using a human rights approach everyday in our free, accessible resources: https://www.bihr.org.uk/Pages/Category/get-our-resources
This session has made clear that many of the concerns raised after the Whorlton Hall scandal in 2019 and the Winterbourne View in 2011 are the same issues that people are facing today.
"We must move away from thinking about good or poor practice and towards accountability for people’s legally protected human rights... Human rights are the legal entitlements that we all have, no matter who we are or where we might be living or placed." http://ow.ly/b1dR50DvjPG
