On 12 February the Equalities and Human Rights Commission launched a legal challenge against Matt Hancock, secretary of state for health and social care, over the repeated failure to move people with learning disabilities and autism into appropriate accommodation. It stated, ‘We have long-standing concerns about the rights of more than 2,000 people with learning disabilities and autism being detained in secure hospitals, often far away from home and for many years. We have sent a pre-action letter to Mr Hancock, arguing that his department has breached the European Convention of Human Rights by failing to meet the targets set in tts Transforming Care and Building the Right Support programmes. These targets include moving patients from inappropriate in-patient care to community-based settings, and reducing the reliance on in-patient care for people with learning disabilities and autism.’
Failing people with learning disabilities
Written by David Fletcher 21 Feb 2020Additional Info
- Pray: for appropriate government action after failure to act following the BBC’s exposure of human rights violations. (Psalm 82:3)
- More: www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/health-secretary-faces-legal-challenge-failing-patients-learning-disabilities-and