Human Rights in Healthcare project

‘It is my aspiration that health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for’
United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan

Human Rights in Healthcare project

The 'Human Rights in Healthcare' project, led by the Department of Health in conjunction with five NHS trusts and supported by BIHR, aims to support the use of Human Rights Based Approaches (HRBAs) in improving health and social care. Building on the successful first phase of the project, which culminated in the launch of 'Human Rights in Healthcare - A Framework for Local action' in March 2007, the second phase of the project includes the following activities:

Learning events

This programme of three learning events aims to raise awareness of Human Rights Based Approaches (HRBAs) and why they are relevant to the health and social care sector. They are aimed at a wide range of stakeholders including health and social care professionals, patients/ service user forums, representatives from healthcare professional bodies, inspectorates and regulators and voluntary sector service delivery and advocacy organisations. They will share learning from the five trusts involved in the project and aim to stimulate further activity and discussion on human rights based approaches in the sector.

Human rights, equality and healthcare (took place on 21 April 2008, Liverpool, report available shortly)
Human rights and learning and development (took place on 20 May 2008, Birmingham, report available shortly)
Human rights and commissioning – 17 July 2008, London

Download a flyer for the events

For more information and registration please contact Kylie.Corcoran@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Human Rights and Health and Social Care Advisory Group

The Advisory Group is made up of stakeholders from a wide range of organisations, including government departments, health and social care professionals, professional bodies, voluntary sector service providers and human rights experts. Members are invited to participate because of their knowledge of and interest in the issues and their willingness to champion the project. The group provides advice and guidance concerning the Project's overall content, direction, priorities, methods and dissemination. The group provides a forum for information sharing and work co-ordination for members with common interest in the field of human rights in health and social care. The group has met twice and will meet a couple more times before the completion of the second phase of the project in September 2008.

Trust pilot projects

Five NHS Trusts are engaged in developing human rights based approaches to different areas of work as part of this project. The Department of Health and BIHR are continuing to support the Trusts in developing their pilot projects and creating key human rights products, for example guidance, models or tools, that will be made available to other NHS trusts in September 2008. The five participating Trusts are:

Mersey Care NHS Trust
Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust
Southwark Health and Social Care
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust

For more information about the 'Human rights in healthcare' project please contact Hannah Clayton on hclayton@bihr.org.uk.

To order printed copies of the framework, please contact DH Publications Orderline:

Email: dh@prolog.uk.com
Tel: 08701 555 455
Fax: 01623 724 524
Textphone: 08700 102 870 (8am to 6pm Monday to Friday)
Address: PO Box 777, London SE1 6XH