So far in this unit, you have been learning about how the UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948) has become embedded in both European and UK practice, policy and legislation. This has then expanded to include the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006. These Conventions have been ratified by the UK. This means that in all UK law, procedure and policies the rights of a person with dementia should be secured. It is important that you know the difference between what is meant by legislation, policy and procedure and how these works together and tie in with your practice.
What do these words mean to you? Write your definitions on a piece of paper and then flip over the cards to check your answers.
Legislation is a law or a set of laws that have been passed by Parliament. The word is also used to describe the act of making a new law
https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/legislation/
A policy is a set of ideas or plans that is used as a basis for making decisions, especially in politics, economics, or business. An official organization's policy on a particular issue or towards a country is their attitude and actions regarding that issue or country.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/policy
a set of actions that is the official or accepted way of doing something
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/
Information intended to advise people on how something should be done or what something should be:
The EU has issued guidelines on appropriate levels of pay for part-time manual workers
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/
Later on in this unit, we will explore different examples of rights based approaches that have had a valuable impact on the development of policy and then legislation. These initiatives have been key in driving change in dementia policy and subsequent practice. Organisations such as Alzheimer’s Scotland and Dementia Action UK have influenced policy makers to such an extent that many of their recommendations have become standards of practice/ procedure. The Charter of Rights and National Dementia Strategy in Scotland (now in its third iteration (2017- 2020)) clearly show that the rights of the individual are ‘front and centre’ of much new social care policy developments.
This does not mean however, that access to public services is the same across all of the UK and that we are all entitled to the same services. For example, across the UK we all have the right to access health care at the point of need. This is known as a universal right. However, access to services such as social care, housing and other welfare benefits can be conditional. These are often dependent on someone’s particular circumstances such as their personal finances or the severity of need. The conditions that are set and how these needs are met by public services vary across the UK.
You may think that this example does not uphold the rights that were discussed earlier in this unit. The issue with this is that much of this compliance remains largely untested and therefore it is difficult to know whether or not this variance in access to services does indeed comply. What is important for you to remember as a care practitioner is that whatever the entitlement to service, the person living with dementia, their families and their carers are entitled to their human rights. These are not only set in law in the Human Rights Act 1998 but through many different Acts which we will explore later in this unit.