How human rights fit with inspection and regulation

Human rights are a natural fit with the National Care Standards and the system of inspection and regulation in Scotland. The Standards themselves are underpinned by human rights principles (dignity, privacy, choice, safety, realising potential, equality and diversity).

The Inspection Focus Areas (IFA) of the Care Commission are clearly related to human rights. Using a human rights based approach can help you to improve your service in these areas. For example, in 2010 / 2011 the themed inspection area for the Care Commission is ‘assuring quality in care at home services.’ This IFA covers issues such as ensuring that services tell people who use services (and their relatives and carers) about any changes made to their service, ensuring that people using services know the staff and that the staff know the individual service user’s needs. All of these issues are very much related to respect for a person’s Article 8 rights and the right to a private, home and family life.

Taking a human rights based approach will help you to ensure a quality service, helping set ground rules (to respect rights) and a direction of travel (to fulfil rights). In addition, it helps set a framework in which to balance priorities to ensure that choices do not result in a disproportionate impact on one person’s rights for the benefit of another.

How human rights fit with the health and social care National Occupational Standards and Codes of Practice

Human rights standards and principles also fit with and reinforce the National Occupational Standards (NOS) and the vocational qualifications for health and social care which arise from them, as well as the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) Codes of Practice for Social Service Workers and Employers of Social Service Workers.

The core SVQ units developed from the NOS support the realisation of a human rights based approach in their emphasis on communication, health and safety and ensuring that actions support the care, protection and well-being of individuals. In addition, nearly all of the optional units at all SVQ levels 2, 3 and 4 require that an individual's human rights are respected. For example, in order to ensure an individual is not subject to inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3 of the European Convention) and leads a fulfilled private home and family life (Article 8), it will be essential that individuals are properly supported with their personal care needs (Unit HSC218); that they are suitably assisted to access services and facilities (HSC330); or that they are supported appropriately when experiencing significant life events and transitions (HSC412), and so on.

The SSSC Codes of Practice for both workers and employers are also underpinned by human rights principles and again an understanding of human rights can assist in implementing these in practice. The purpose of the Codes is to set out the conduct that is expected of social service workers and to inform people using services and the public about the standards of conduct they can expect from social service workers, as well as to set down the responsibilities of employers in regulating social service workers.

“Social service workers must:

  1. Protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers

  2. Strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers

  3. Promote the independence of service users while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm.

  4. Respect the rights of service users while seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people

  5. Uphold public trust and confidence in social services

  6. Be accountable for the quality of their work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills.”

The Code of Practice for Employers of Social Service Workers reinforces these standards and the responsibility on employers to promote and assist workers in implementing the codes.

It is important to have an understanding of a human rights based approach when implementing the NOS and the Codes of Practice, particularly in the context of promoting independence and respecting the rights of individuals, whilst balancing these against any risk of harm.

A good understanding and application of human rights should therefore assist social services workers to be better practitioners.