Sign our Declaration
“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”
~ Benjamin Franklin
We are calling for:
1. Government, Local Authorities and The Care Quality Commission (CQC) to ensure that there is an immediate end to all unlawful visiting restrictions, including set visiting times, so families can urgently ensure that their loved ones are safe and well cared for.
2. Local Authorities and Government to make an urgent commitment to supporting families who wish to keep their loved ones at home or bring them home from care.
3. Government to recognise that it is not acceptable for private businesses, private equity firms and shareholders to be profiteering from the neglect and abusive treatment of our most vulnerable citizens; and to commit to regulating this and exploring alternative models of provision.
4. Government to ensure that there is a mechanism whereby Local Authorities can be held to account in real time when they fail to uphold laws and legislation.
5. Government to recognise that CQC has grossly failed in its duty of care to care home residents and to commit to creating a system of regulation that truly protects our vulnerable citizens.
6. Local Authorities and Social Work England to commit to ensuring that Social Workers have an accurate understanding of the Mental Capacity Act if they are working with adults who are deemed to lack capacity; and that they understand and are working to the professional standards that their registration requires.
7. Government to commit to ensuring that there is an urgent review of national adult safeguarding practices to address the gross failings in current safeguarding work.
8. The NHS to commit to ensuring that all contraindicated prescribing to vulnerable citizens is immediately stopped; to ensure that GPs see care home residents in person; and talk to involved families before prescribing any significant medications.
9. Government and the NHS to commit to immediately stopping the unlawful end-of-life policies, practices and prescribing that have led to the premature deaths of thousands of vulnerable citizens.
10. The Police to commit to investigating all serious crimes against vulnerable citizens to ensure that justice is served and perpetrators are no longer a risk to other vulnerable citizens.
11. The Court of Protection and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) to recognise their unwitting part in the failures of the current care system and to commit to urgently review and redesign OPG and Court services to become more family-friendly, including reducing the unacceptably long delays to access the Court.
12. Advocacy Services to acknowledge failures to protect care home residents and their legal rights; and to commit to reviewing services they provide.
This declaration has grown out of the work that The People’s Care Watchdog has undertaken to understand and find solutions to the systemic issues being described by families. To better understand our declaration points, you can look at our Supporting Change document by clicking HERE