(Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for a right for
a user of health and care services to be accompanied by a care
supporter; and for connected purposes.
The care of a loved one is not an optional extra; it is an
absolutely central part of dignified care. Separation and
isolation have a deeply harmful impact on individuals, but
particularly on those who are vulnerable. For those who are
approaching the end of life, the impact cannot be understated. My
Bill seeks to recognise those fundamental points, and put them
into law.
Throughout the pandemic, guidance proved consistently inadequate.
It applied with levels of uncertainty and variability that led to
a postcode lottery as separate settings interpreted it
differently. There is a clear lack of recourse when guidance is
applied incorrectly as well as a wide power imbalance between
service users and care providers. Those problems will not be
solved through further tweaks to guidance.
Past practice has shown that older and disabled people, those
affected by dementia, stroke and other impairments, and those
with a mental or physical disability are some of the most
powerless people in our society. They often do not have the
ability to challenge decisions made at care homes or in
hospitals. In the worst circumstances—these are not uncommon—they
cannot defend themselves against abuse, neglect or inhumane
conditions.
The devastating impact of all of that affects not only those in
receipt of care but their loved ones. Further, poor-quality data
on visiting means that we cannot appreciate the true scale of the
problem. Data does not capture where visits are allowed only for
a short period of time, where young people are disallowed from
visiting or where people cannot see parents, husbands or wives
directly in their rooms. There is also a principle at stake: do
we as a society give the right to state or private
institutions—namely, hospitals and care homes—to deny us contact
with family and loved ones because they are in receipt of their
care, or do we believe that we should keep our right to maintain
contact with loved ones regardless of health and care needs? I
think it is obvious. I firmly believe that we should make a clear
choice of the latter and enshrine that right in law in this
House.
There is a dangerous hangover of restrictions from covid and a
lack of urgency from the Government to change things. The need
for the Bill is therefore as pivotal as it was during the
pandemic.
Before I turn to the steps that I have taken to put this measure
into law, I pay tribute to the determined efforts of campaigning
organisations in this area: in particular, the Rights for
Residents campaign group and the Relatives and Residents
Association, which have merged to become Care Rights UK, and
John’s Campaign. The work of Jenny Morrison, Diane Mayhew, Helen
Wildbore, Julia Jones, Nicci Gerrard and Kate Meacock has been
inspirational. They are all in the Public Gallery watching our
proceedings. I also place on record my appreciation to the hon.
Members for Chatham and Aylesford () and for St Albans () and the right hon. Member for
Dwyfor Meirionnydd (), who have supported
the campaign from its origin. Quite simply, I would not be
introducing the Bill if it were not for their collective efforts;
I thank them all for that.
In November 2021, I tabled an amendment to the Health and Care
Bill that aimed to guarantee visiting rights to hospitals and
care homes. The amendments were not moved, but I hoped that the
Department would take note. Many people across the country spent
the winter of 2021 separated from those most important to them.
In March 2022, we invited those affected to an event where they
could share their experiences with parliamentarians. The
testimonies that we heard were harrowing and the collective
trauma was palpable. That powerful event left those present
united in the view that a legal right was needed to secure the
right of care users to nominate an individual to provide support
or care in all circumstances.
Many at the event were disappointed by the following inaction
from Government. None the less, following it, 60 Members signed a
letter to the right hon. Member for Bromsgrove (), who was at that point
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pushing for a
legal right to be put into law. We were again left disheartened
by the Department’s response, which prescribed updated guidance
as the solution to any problems. However, we pressed on.
In October last year, in response to our Backbench debate, the
Minister for Social Care, the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid
Kent (), stated that she did not
“consider the status quo acceptable”—[Official Report, 27 October
2022; Vol. 721, c. 494.]
and that she was “on the case.” Those words, with the promise of
action, meant a lot to those affected. Campaign groups waited to
see what shape that promised action would take and I trust the
Minister for Social Care has been working on the issue. She
attended our meeting this morning to meet campaigners. I say to
her that we now need to see action.
It is important to remember that the denial of contact has not
just taken place in care homes, but in hospitals too—I can
account for that from personal experience. Therefore, any
legislative response must address both sides of the health and
social care system. I hope that those on the Treasury Bench will
hear this point. It is not just colleagues in the House but more
than 70 organisations across the sector who are pressing for
action in this area: Mencap, the Alzheimer’s Society, Mind, Age
UK, Care UK, Healthwatch—the list goes on. We have support from
all parties across the House. In fact, I have witnessed few other
issues on which there has been such universal agreement in the
House.
There are only a few months left of this parliamentary Session.
We expect the King’s Speech in autumn and a general election next
year. It is clear that the time to act is now. Will the
Government commit to legislating for a care supporter in the next
King’s Speech? Will all major parties commit to putting this
legal right into their manifestos? We have a Bill ready to be
implemented. I thank Tom Gillie from Matrix Chambers and Carolin
Ott from Leigh Day for their hugely valuable work on the draft
legislation. Let me quickly outline how the Bill would operate in
practice.
The Bill would place a duty on health and care providers to allow
a service user to be accompanied by a care supporter. A care
supporter is defined as a person nominated as such by the service
user. Importantly, the right would attach to the service user,
and only following their clear and informed consent. The Bill
places a duty on providers to allow unrestricted in-person
support from at least one essential care supporter, nominated by
the service user. The Bill also provides safeguards for those
exceptional circumstances in which the duty on providers would
not apply. The Bill provides alternatives if the care supporter’s
face-to-face access is entirely excluded. The provider would then
have to take reasonable steps to facilitate contact by other
means. Finally, the Bill would also provide means for appeal and
proper enforcement, two measures that are currently almost
impossible for those trying to maintain contact with their loved
ones in care settings. As always, I stand ready to work with the
Government on any steps that can be taken to make the Bill as
effective as possible.
No one in this House was left untouched by the trauma of the
coronavirus pandemic. We can all agree on the principle that
whether it is the state, a privately run care home or a hospital,
it does not have the right to separate us from our family and
loved ones. We must now take the opportunity to learn from that
trauma and bring in legislation.
Question put and agreed to.
Ordered,
That , , , , , , , , , , Dame and present the Bill.
accordingly presented the
Bill.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 24
November, and to be printed (Bill 318).
