Human rights
Banning care workers from working with vulnerable people without giving them an opportunity to answer is a breach of their human rights, the House of Lords has ruled.
In R (Wright & Ors) v Secretary of State for Health, Lord Phillips and four Law
Lords declared the procedure for listing people unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults— the POVA list—incompatible with the right to a fair hearing under Art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Care workers can be excluded under s 82(4)(b) of the Care Standards Act 2000, and have to pursue a lengthy administrative process in order to challenge this decision. Baroness Hale said the effect of listing was to prevent a new employer employing them in a care position or to deprive them of such a position if they had one, while challenging the decision could take as much as nine months.
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