Ian Duddy reflects on ‘The Opportunity is Now’ report

'The Opportunity is Now report makes some strong recommendations on taking a human rights based approach to health and social care.'

In 2022 I would have written this blog as somebody who had worked on human rights policy for many years. I am now writing as somebody with first-hand lived experience of accessing health and social care in both England and Scotland.

The first experience was helping my Mum, who was looking after my 101 year old Grandma at home in Kent and struggling to find a nursing home for her, when she could no longer manage to provide full-time care. The second, and more recent experience, was supporting my partner’s family in Fife when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with dementia and then an aggressive form of cancer. We wanted to ensure that she got the care she needed, so that she could live, and die, with dignity.

I saw first-hand how a policy like “self directed support” would sound good on paper – giving the control and resources direct to families needing support – but the implementation was quite different. My father-in-law suddenly became responsible for contracting and hiring a healthcare assistant. He was sent a 12 page draft contract and told that he was responsible for employing a carer. Never mind that the paperwork was baffling, there were no carers available to hire. Nor were there affordable nursing homes with availability in the local area. It was only when my mother-in-law was hospitalised after a fall and became a “bed-blocker” that an emergency 3-week placement was found for her in a local nursing home. She died the day before that emergency placement expired.

The Opportunity is Now report makes some strong recommendations on taking a human rights based approach to health and social care. What does that mean in practice? Well, it means that individuals should be at the heart of the decisions that affect them and that there should be no discrimination in treatment. A human rights based approach also means that those providing services need to be held accountable and that health boards and local authorities must comply with their legal obligations.

In Scotland, we tend to think of human rights as an issue for people living in war torn countries or governed by brutal dictators. But access education, housing and health are human rights too. They belong to all of us.

Looking after an ageing population is going to be one of the biggest challenges for Scotland in the years and decades ahead. In some ways, my relatives were lucky. My Mum is a former nurse and knew how to provide care and navigate the “system”. My father-in-law was fortunate to find a somebody who was willing and able to provide support at short notice. The care, kindness and concern that my relatives received from some of the lowest paid workers was first-rate.

Health care assistants and those working in social care also have human rights too, including the right to an adequate standard of living. Yet low pay and recognition makes health and social care an unattractive career choice. This also means that local authorities are struggling to meet standards and their legal obligations. And unless there is a fundamental change, the problem will get worse over time, not better.

So there needs to be a radical change in how health and social care is resourced and provided, accompanied by preventative strategies to improve the physical and mental health of older persons. Everyone in Scotland should be able to live – and die – with dignity.

End of Page.

End of page.