How human rights can help you improve service delivery

Balancing risk and quality of life considerations

Sometimes as a service provider or care worker you might try and avoid risk by limiting the freedoms of people using services in order to preserve the safety of those individuals or others and to keep the families of individuals receiving care satisfied. Examples of this might be found in restrictions on bedsides, diets, movement or outdoor activities etc.

Human rights can assist in putting the individual’s rights at the centre of these difficult decisions and balancing the rights of the individual to have their wishes and rights respected against the risks to the safety of the individual or the rights of others. To understand better how this works in practice you can use the flowchart on page 41 to assist you in this type of decision making.

Person-centred care

Human rights are about looking at all the circumstances affecting an individual on a case by case basis and considering their care needs and rights entitlements. Blanket policies applying to all people using services should generally be avoided. It could be that a culmination of factors could lead to a human rights violation if this person-centred approach is not adopted.

Detailed care and support plans may be an essential element of fulfilling this requirement. Recording life histories and likes / dislikes will also assist in ensuring care and support is suitably tailored to individual needs and wishes and therefore less likely to lead to a situation where a human rights violation may be possible.

The genuine participation and involvement of people using services in all decisions affecting their rights, with the involvement of their families and carers where necessary, is key to ensuring this person-centred approach is adopted as part of a human rights based approach.

Better communication - common framework of rights and responsibilities for everybody

A human rights based approach which is understood by everybody will provide a common framework of understanding which can make disputes or disagreements easier to resolve.

For example, where a family member of an individual using care and support services raises concerns about an aspect of an individual’s care, a common understanding of human rights would mean that the views of the individual receiving care must be heard and their rights put at the centre of decision making. For many issues it may be about considering the proportionality of an intervention, ensuring that it is the minimum required to achieve the desired aim without unduly restricting someone’s rights. In some circumstances, however, it might be that if people are fully supported and informed, they have the right to make (even irrational) decisions about their own care, which should be respected so long as they don’t have a disproportionate impact on others’ rights.

Foundation for other duties

Taking a human rights based approach can make delivering on other legal duties a less daunting process. It can lay strong foundations for equality, adult protection, mental health and other duties.

To make sure this happens it is important to maintain a clear link to human rights in practice – to ensure and not assume compliance when delivering on other duties.

Not a risk or a burden but a tool for improving care

Human rights should not be seen as a risk or a burden but rather as a tool for decision making, a means of resolving issues and improving service delivery.

You can use the FAIR flowchart, in the icon at the top of this page, to help you think through issues and to talk about the issues with people who use your services and their families and others.

A human rights based approach will enable positive change in your care service and better relationships based on a shared understanding of the rights of your service users, staff and others.