Care Homes: Coronavirus

(asked on 18th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission about whether human rights laws have been breached by hospitals that discharged older patients that were potentially infected with COVID-19 into care homes.


Answered by
Lord Bethell Portrait
Lord Bethell
This question was answered on 4th June 2020

The Department has not had discussions with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on discharge policy. Providers of care homes in England are required to register with the Care Quality Commission and adhere to the ‘fundamental standards’, such as the duty to provide care in a safe way and treat residents with dignity and respect, as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Health and care settings must always seek to fully protect the rights of their residents. The safety of residents and staff is always a priority and patients should not be discharged from hospital unless it is clinically safe to do so. On 15 April, in our Adult Social Care Action Plan, we introduced a policy of testing all residents prior to discharge to a care home.

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