6. Debate: Human Rights

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:29 pm on 3 May 2022.

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Photo of Altaf Hussain Altaf Hussain Conservative 4:29, 3 May 2022

Anyway, let me carry on. The Bill will retain all the substantive rights in the Human Rights Act 1998 and the convention. Again, I fail to see what is wrong with this.

We can all agree the NHS is something we can all be proud of. However, under the NHS flag, the Human Rights Act Labour wants to retain does not always protect the rights of patients. The NHS is an attractive organisation for the best medical practitioners all over the world, but there are some who come to work in the UK who do not have the correct understanding of the rights of British patients. In some countries from where we readily accept medically trained staff, medical ethics are few and far between. In 2019 a senior nurse was struck off for falsifying 16 medical certificates. Whilst these cases are very rare, and whilst we can be proud of our NHS, a human rights Bill fit for purpose, which only allows foreign medical practitioners who meet our proud medical standards, is needed to protect patients and NHS staff. [Interruption.] I'll carry on.

In regard to maternity, treatment needs to be medically considered, but also compassionate. It is not enough for a practitioner to only give advice and treatment based on medical evidence. How a mother looks back on the birthing experience can have a massive impact on her mental health postnatally. During the pandemic, parents were often isolated from their babies, or from each other, during a very emotional time. This has obviously been very traumatic for so many people, and can often bring up past traumas. A miscarriage is the most heartbreaking event any mother can endure, but mothers who have faced this over the last two years have done so alone.

When medical procedures take place without consent, this violates the privacy of family life, and puts decision making over physical integrity and self-determination. And the use of DNAR—that is, do not attempt resuscitation—orders for certain patients without discussing it with the relatives is a breach of the NHS constitution. All this can have a huge impact on overall well-being.

But most important of all, the human rights of children must be tightened. The tragic death of Logan is a tragic case where the rights of children had not been protected by the state despite the warning signs. These include the rights of life, survival, development, health and welfare. The Welsh Government must work with local authorities to make sure this does not happen again.

In a recent ruling, the Government's policy on discharging untested patients from hospitals to care homes in England at the start of the COVID pandemic has been ruled unlawful by the High Court, which is a devastating policy failure in the modern era, and most vulnerable victims were from our elderly population. This ruling has implications for the Welsh Government, who, in the words of the First Minister, saw 'no value' in mass testing. But whilst the Welsh Government is feebly attacking the UK Government, it has failed to hold up a mirror to itself—as we point out in our amendment, Labour politicians have had the chance since the fifth Senedd to agree on an older people's rights Bill, but refuse. They say one thing but do another thing, but thanks to yourself, now it is only one thing. [Interruption.]