Weekly Human Rights News: 21/03/25

This week’s human rights news includes our new Easy Read guide to the Mental Health Bill and an investigation by the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman into a Do Not Resuscitate order.

The Mental Health Bill is currently being debated in UK Parliament to decide whether it should become law. The Bill sets out changes to the Mental Health Act 1983 which is the main law covering the assessment, treatment, and rights of people experiencing mental distress in England and Wales. 

Together with members of our RITES Committee, we’ve created an Easy Read guide which explains what the Bill does and what it could mean for people’s human rights.

Our CEO Sanchita travelled to Gloucester to launch our Advocacy Guide co-produced with Parent and Carer Alliance as part of our UK Community Programme. The event was attended by advocates, parents, carers and funders from Gloucestershire, together working through the Guide and improving confidence to champion and support others to use the Human Rights Act in advocating for disabled children and family members.

Tuesday 18th March 2025 was World Social Work Day. We caught up with Senior Human Rights Officer and Social Worker Annie to talk about human rights, social work and her advice to other social workers wanting to embed human rights in their practice.  

Watch the video to hear what how the Human Rights Act comes up in social work and how Anine’s social work role shaped the work she does at BIHR. 

The Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman found an NHS Trust breached its duties by not disclosing a DNAR order 

A Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNAR) order means that if someone’s heart or breathing stops, doctors will not attempt to restart it. Doctors decide whether or not to put a DNAR order on a patient’s file but if the patient has capacity, they must be told about it. If the patient doesn’t have capacity, their next of kin must be told about it.  

In 2023, BIHR was commissioned by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to carry out research into how the DNAR process is viewed by people with learning disabilities and how it can impact on people’s human rights. We worked with Lived Experience Experts and looked at key rights including the right to life; right to private and family life; and right to be free from discrimination. 

PHSO recently investigated an NHS trust that did not tell a patient or his family that a DNAR order had been placed on his file; his family did not find out until days after he died. The PHSO found that the NHS Trust had breached its duty   

Read the press release 

The Care Quality Commission released a report on the Mental Health Act 

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates health and social care in England. Every year, it produces a report as part of its duty to monitor the Mental Health Act and see how services are exercising their powers to detain people in hospital or to put community treatment orders in place. 

On Thursday 13th March 2025, the CQC released its latest report. The report highlighted that people working in public services are often under immense strain and there is a lack of appropriate community support, which could lead to people not getting the right support, becoming more unwell by the time they are admitted to hospitals, or being admitted to hospitals that are far away from home or not suitable for them. 

Our information pages look at some of the links between health, care and social work and human rights and the duties public services have to uphold people’s human rights. 

Read the report