[ad_1]
At RCN Congress on Thursday, union members voted to instruct the RCN to demand the UK government to mandate specialist-accessible care for those experiencing rough sleeping.
It comes amid fierce criticism of the Criminal Justice Bill during the last parliament that sought to further criminalise rough sleeping.
“The current model of healthcare for people sleeping rough is not fit for purpose and provides no consistency across the country”
Kirsten Bland
People who experience rough sleeping are being denied the care they deserve. It is a damning indictment of how politics has turned its back on some of the most vulnerable people in society. As a nurse, it is devastating to see the impact on patients every single day.
Those who end up on the streets are often there because they have faced significant trauma in their lives, significant adversity or a structural disadvantage that has pushed them there.
People end up sleeping rough because they have nowhere else to go. It is never by choice.
The current model of healthcare for people sleeping rough is not fit for purpose and provides no consistency across the country.
Services targeted at supporting rough sleepers are often reliant on grant funding or the charity sector.
This postcode lottery of service means in the space of few miles a rough sleeper’s ability to seek health care can rapidly change.
Accessing care for those experiencing rough sleeping is close to impossible. The system is often patchwork, and lacks alignment between local authorities, NHS trusts, and health boards.
Last week, thousands of nursing staff voted to demand that specialist and accessible care is available for everyone who is sleeping rough. Every political party in this election must support our demands.
Before this election, the government proposed further criminalising homelessness. They would make it easier for local authorities to ‘move on’ homeless people considered a ‘nuisance’, with much harsher fines and possible prison terms for not complying.
Demonising homeless people or saying homelessness is a lifestyle choice is breathtakingly out of touch with reality. It’s seriously harmful, too.
These proposals are, for now, off the table thanks to the general election. But that alone isn’t a happy ending.
Rough sleeping may have dropped during the pandemic, but it is now back on the rise and closing in on the record levels set in 2017.
Whoever walks into 10 Downing Street come on 5 July must leave these proposals on the scrap heap and instead listen to those who work in these services every single day.
Rough sleeping is a public health issue. We need specialist, accessible and compassionate healthcare in every part of the country so vulnerable people can get the care they need – and the chance to move forward with their lives.
By passing this resolution, the RCN, the world’s largest nursing trade union, with over half a million members, drew a line in the sand.
Specialist-accessible care for rough sleepers saves lives. And we are going to fight for it.
Kirsten Bland, RCN South-West Board member and learning disability nurse working with vulnerable people
[ad_2]
Source link