The Opportunity is Now- SNAP2 It

Human Rights are ours, by dint of our humanity. They exist even when they are not realised.

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.

We need a shift in the power dynamic

The right to health can only be realised if we reach those missing from our services.

In search of the Human Right to social care

The publication ‘The Opportunity is Now’ by the ALLIANCE is to be warmly welcomed.

Human rights – the key to change in mental health?

Gordon Johnson reflects on what is needed for a human rights based approach to unlock positive change in mental health.

Not only is ‘the opportunity now’, the time for action is now

For people with learning disabilities, increasing ownership of the human rights agenda by the health and social care sector is critical.

There is growing evidence that people affected by mental health issues in Scotland do not fully enjoy their right to access timely, good quality support. We also know that disabled people, people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers can experience poorer mental health and may have different requirements that affect how they access mental health support and services.

By mainstreaming equalities and human rights in our mental health law and policy we can ensure that people living with mental health issues have a strong voice and enjoy their right to live well, free from discrimination, and with support and services that put them at the centre.

The ALLIANCE has engaged extensively with recent developments in mental health law, policy and practice, through responding to the Scottish Mental Health Law Review, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, and the Suicide Prevention Strategy.

We are also an active member of the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Equality and Human Rights Stakeholder Forum.

For more information on our mental health policy work, please email Lucy Mulvagh, Director of Policy, Research and Impact at lucy.mulvagh@alliance-scotland.org.uk

While the health of people in Scotland continues to improve, health inequalities persist. To reduce health inequalities we need to act across a range of public policy areas to tackle economic and social inequalities alongside actions with a specific focus on disadvantaged groups and deprived areas. This participatory research on health and human rights was commissioned to empower people affected by health inequalities to find solutions.

The research was undertaken in partnership with the ALLIANCE, the Health and Social Care Academy, Glasgow Homelessness Network,  the Mental Health Foundation, and NHS Heath Scotland. The project builds on the work of Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP) and informed the work of the Health and Social Care Action Group.

Between December 2015 and January 2016, a total of 83 people participated in the research, including 34 people who had experience of homelessness and 49 women with the status of refugees or asylum seekers took part in the research in Glasgow. They were asked to think about what the right to health meant to them, and to reflect on their past experiences of services and health issues.

Links and resources

Read the full research report.

Watch videos about this project.

View a case study of the project, produced for the Scottish Human Rights Commission.

Any questions?

If you have any questions you can contact Rob Gowans, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at rob.gowans@alliance-scotland.org.uk.

End of page.

In February 2023, the ALLIANCE published a commissioned research report, authored by branch social research, titled ‘The Opportunity is Now’.

The research combines an overarching literature review and analysis of eleven elite interviews across four selected case study areas:

• What next for human rights policy and health and social care in Scotland?
• Learning from the ‘pandemic experience’
• Human rights in healthcare education
• Reflection and aspirations for Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights

It aims to capture some of the issues, barriers, aspirations, innovations and experiences of the health and social care sector in Scotland.

The report seeks to begin to unpack the questions and emerging issues which surround health, social care and human rights – what the sector has been through, where it is now, and where it is going.

Read the full report.

Watch a short video of the third case study on human rights in healthcare education via our YouTube channel.

Listen to an ALLIANCE Live podcast discussing the report findings and its recommendations.

Read our ‘Opportunity is Now’ opinion pieces.

Read a follow-up report analysing a 30 minute live research session with participants who attended the launch event of ‘The Opportunity is Now‘.

Any questions?

If you have any questions you can contact Lucy Mulvagh, Director of Policy, Research and Impact at lucy.mulvagh@alliance-scotland.org.uk

End of page.

What is the Rights Removal Bill?

The Rights Removal Bill is a proposed law that was introduced by the UK Government on 22 June 2022. This is formally known as the ‘Bill of Rights Bill‘ however campaigners are referring to it as the Rights Removal Bill.

The proposed Bill would replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with much weaker human rights protections. This is regressive and would cause legal uncertainty, particularly for devolved nations.

In September 2022 it was decided that the UK Government has postponed the Bill. The date for its second reading is still to be announced.

What are we doing about it?

The ALLIANCE is working with civil society organisations across the UK to say ‘no’ to the Rights Removal Bill. You can read more about what we have been doing via the links below:

ALLIANCE consultation responses:

• ALLIANCE Response to consultation on Human Rights Act Reform (March 2022) 
• ALLIANCE Response – Independent Human Rights Act Review Call for Evidence (March 2021)

Joint activity:

• Joint civil society briefing to MPs (September 2022)
• Joint statement on UK Rights Removal Bill (July 2022)
• Joint response to consultation on Human Rights Act Reform with HRCS and others (March 2022)
• Joint letter to the Prime Minister on retaining the Human Rights Act (December 2021)
• Joint response to Independent Review of the Human Rights Act (March 2021)

Opinion pieces

ALLIANCE members and partners have shared their views on the impact of the Rights Removal Bill in Scotland:

• Alan Miller, Professor of Practice in Human Rights Law, University of Strathclyde
• Dr Elaine Webster, Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights Law, University of Strathclyde
• Carlyn Miller, Head of Policy and Programmes at the British Institute of Human Rights

Further reading

• The British Institute of Human Rights Rights Removal Bill Hub
• Scottish Government response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights Legislative Scrutiny

For more information, please contact Ellie Meikle, Policy and Information Officer at ellie.meikle@alliance.scotland.org.uk

End of page.

The growing focus on human rights in Scotland is a welcome development towards building a society in which all people are equally valued. Human rights incorporation has been a key priority for the ALLIANCE. In March 2021, 126 individuals and organisations joined the ALLIANCE and Inclusion Scotland in calling for full and direct incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People into Scots law.

The Scottish Government has committed to introducing a new Human Rights Bill, which will incorporate four international human rights treaties. This new Bill will include specific rights from:

• the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRPD)
• the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
• the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
• the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CERD)

The new Human Rights Bill will be underpinned by the recommendations of the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership. The National Taskforce was set up in December 2018 and published its final report in March 2021. The report makes 30 recommendations, which have been accepted by the Scottish Government. These include measures which will advance our full range of human rights, including economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.

In June 2022, the ALLIANCE held an online event as part of our Annual Conference to reflect on the recommendations of the National Taskforce and to update on progress towards incorporating human rights into Scots law. Read the event report.

In February 2023, we published ‘The Opportunity is Now’ – human rights in health and social care in Scotland. The research report unpacks questions and emerging issues in the sector, including the Scottish Government’s plans for incorporation.

The ALLIANCE is also an active member of the Civil Society Working Group on Incorporation.

End of page.

Human Rights Budget Work (HRBW) is a different approach to financial decision making. It puts people at the centre, and involves thinking through how our human rights are impacted by the way that money is raised, allocated, and spent.

The ALLIANCE is a member of the Human Rights Budgeting Working Group. Led by the Scottish Human Rights Commission, this group has been closely involved in aspects of HRBW developments in Scotland, including supporting the development of a series of briefing papers.

For more information about HRBW visit the Scottish Human Rights Commission website.

The ALLIANCE has also produced a video about human rights budgeting.

End of page.

With Public Health Scotland (formerly NHS Health Scotland), the ALLIANCE co-convened the Health and Social Care Action Group established under Scotland’s first National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP).

The SNAP Health and Social Care Action Group brought together a range of partners, including statutory sector, third sector organisations, and people with lived experience, to identify opportunities for using human rights as a driver for change in health and social care and challenge and lobby for greater change to achieve this. The SNAP Health and Social Care Action Group has now been transformed into the Action Group for Advancing Human Rights in Health and Social Care.

Case studies

The Health and Social Care Action Group created case studies which show how different organisations have put a human rights based approach into practice in their work. You can access the case studies on the Scottish Human Rights Commission website (this link will take you away from our website).

Peer research project: What do you mean I have a right to health?

Between 2015 – 2016, a peer research project, What do you mean I have a right to health?, was undertaken in partnership with the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, the Health and Social Care Academy, Glasgow Homelessness Network,  the Mental Health Foundation and NHS Heath Scotland. The project builds on the work of SNAP and informed the work of the Health and Social Care Action Group.

End of page.

Scotland’s first public hearing on the right to health – “Public Hearing on the Right to Health: Inequalities and Social Determinants of Mental Health” – took place in Edinburgh on 21 March 2019.

It represented a culmination and convergence of several years of collective movement-building and participatory action research (PAR). Led by the People’s Health Movement Scotland (PHMS), it was chaired by Dr Anuj Kapilashrami and organised in collaboration with the ALLIANCE, NHS Health Scotland, the Centre for Health Policy at the University of Strathclyde, and several third sector organisations and community groups.

Watch a short film about the event.

The event was aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of inequalities in mental health and the underlying social determinants of these health outcomes from an intersectional perspective. The goal was to identify solutions and seek commitments from decision-makers for action to ensure that the right to health is respected, protected and fulfilled.

Grounded in a human rights framework, the public hearing used a participatory methodology and a collaborative process to identify priorities. Priority was given to lived experience in the pursuit of social accountability. Extensive evidence was presented using background reports and first-person testimonials. These shed light on the complex interaction between the social determinants of mental health and multiple forms of disadvantage that intersect and compound each other in shaping lived experiences of mental ill-health.

The hearing focused on the following cross-cutting themes:

• Insecure employment
• Housing and homelessness
• Food insecurity

Evidence and knowledge was exchanged through a mixture of:

• Presentations
• Testimonials through statements, video, and theatre
• Small group discussion
• Audience Q&A and discussion

Contributions came from a wide range of volunteers, campaigners and researchers, including:

• Active Inquiry
• Bethany Christian Trust
• Better than Zero
• Common Weal
• Cre8te
• Scottish Human Rights Commission
• Shelter Scotland
• SikhSanjog
• Saheliya
• Unite Hospitality

The public hearing culminated in a response from a panel of decision-makers, including representatives from the Scottish Human Rights Commission, See Me Scotland, NHS Lothian and Social Work Scotland. They discussed the need for collective advocacy and community participation in public policy planning and implementation to ensure accountability for health rights.

This event succeeded in building momentum for a movement for the right to health in Scotland. This is in part demonstrated by the key outcomes, including interest from a range of agencies to use the public hearing method and participatory approaches to develop better understanding of health inequalities and inform policy and practice in order to improve equality in health outcomes.

Watch a short film about the event.

End of page.

Created in 2016, CLEAR (Community Lived Experience Action Research) is a joint project between the ALLIANCE, Public Health Scotland and Strathclyde University’s Centre for Health Policy. It is delivered through our three-way Health and Human Rights Partnership.

CLEAR supports and promotes the use of peer research to influence change, bringing benefits to peer researchers, communities, and all relevant stakeholders.

Our vision is human rights for all through peer research.

Our mission is to use peer research partnerships to positively influence human rights based policy and practice.

Our objectives are to:

• Empower people to form an active collective of peer researchers and change influencers to inform influence policy and practice.
• Develop a model of excellence for peer research.
• Provide the infrastructure to support and promote the use of peer research in Scotland to influence changes in policy and practice.

Why peer research?

Peer research is ideal for researchers who are committed to co-developing research with people rather than for people. It enables collaborative working between people and organisations.

Peer research focuses on social change that promotes democracy and challenges inequalities. It is context-specific, often targeted on the needs of a particular group, and involves an iterative cycle of research, action and reflection. It can help everyone involved gain a greater awareness of the situation in order to take action.

What we do

• Peer research projects like What do you mean I have a right to health?
• Advice and consultancy on peer research and human rights – you can download the slides from a February 2021 training session.
• Training, capacity building and ongoing support for peer researchers.
• Talks and presentations to raise awareness and promote peer research.
• Influence policy and practice to ensure peer research and its findings are prioritised.

To find out more, including how to get involved, please contact Rob Gowans, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at rob.gowans@alliance-scotland.org.uk

End of page.