Law School Forum

On Thursday I joined a group of final year law students at the University of Warwick who held a forum concerning the rights of older people in care homes. They are looking at the Security of tenure for older people in private care and the possibility of extending human rights legislation to ensure that they are not forced to leave. A forum involving specialist speakers followed by a general debate took place. Some convincing statistics showing a high number of deaths immediately after the closure of a care home were presented and the issue is how this might be avoided. The forum itself was very interesting, although dominated by the very strong personality of a lawyer who has been involved defending the rights of older people. I was not convinced that the extension of the human rights act into this area is the solution to the problem. It seems to me that particularly in relation to local authority care homes, it is vital that procedures should be in place to ensure that proper inadequate care is given to vulnerable residents if a closure becomes necessary.