Privacy Of Residents In Private And Voluntary Care Homes

EDM number 536 in 1990-91, proposed by David Hinchliffe on 26/02/1991.

That this House notes with extreme concern the contents of the Counsel and Care Charity's Report, Not Such Private Places, which reveals an appalling lack of privacy in 114 private and voluntary homes surveyed during the autumn of 1990; further notes that 80 per cent. of the homes concerned expected residents to share rooms and that many had been forced to move from single to shared rooms because of reduced income, that 70 per cent. of homes expected residents to use commodes in situations where they are overheard by room-mates, that in nearly a quarter of homes residents had to use commodes in shared rooms without the minimal shield of a curtain, that in 14 per cent. of homes there were no lockable bathrooms or lavatories and that in more than half of the homes it was impossible for residents even to lock the door to their own bedrooms; believes that this report is yet another indictment of the policies of a Conservative government that has consistently put the establishment of a private care market before the needs of elderly and disabled people; and recognises the need to amend as a matter of urgency the Registered Homes Act 1984 to enable registration authorities to take action against those care homes which deprive residents of basic rights such as privacy.

This motion has been signed by a total of 46 MPs.