PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
RIGHTS OF OLDER PEOPLE IN RESIDENTIAL CARE AND NURSING HOMES (29 June 1992)

That this House welcomes the publicaton of the Consumers' Association policy paper Contracting for Residential Care, which outlines the urgent need for the introduction of individual contracts to secure the rights of older people who are admitted into residential care or nursing homes; notes that the paper's conclusions reinforce both the requirement in Home Life, the Government's own code of practice on residential care, for a clear statement of the terms of residence, and the recommendation in the 1988 report Residential Care: A Positive Choice, commisioned by the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Security, that written contracts were the most effective way to uphold the resident's right to personal independence; regrets therefore that the Government saw fit to reject opposition attempts to require the introduction of such contracts for persons placed in care during the recent Committee Stage of the Community Care (Residential Accommodation) Bill [Lords]; and calls upon the Government to bring forward proposals for legally enforeceable contracts to safeguard the rights of all individuals admitted to residential care or nursing homes as a matter of urgency.

Sponsored by:
Mr David Hinchliffe (Labour)