On the 19 June 2009, the NHS Confederation, along with NHS Employers, ran an event to get the views of representatives from the NHS on the Government Equalities Office consultation on the European Commission's proposal for an Equal Treatment Directive.
The views expressed at the event were compiled into a paper which was used to inform the response to the consultation.
The response stated that:
- It was important that UK legislation include prevention of harassment in the provision of services on the grounds of religion or belief and sexual orientation.
- Specific age limits in relation to provision of services could be justified, in certain circumstances, because of a need to optimise health gain within a constrained budget. Participants, however, did recognise that there was a need to strike a balance between targeting services to those most at risk while not excluding vulnerable people who may not meet the specified criteria.
- That any directive should recognise that the organisation, management and funding of healthcare systems differs in individual countries and that these are matters for national governments and not EU legislation. It was pointed out that if there could not be age restrictions on certain healthcare and health systems that this could have serious financial and capacity implications.
The Government Equalities Office has published a summary of the responses received to the consultation. In relation to healthcare, they emphasised that in a number of the responses, it was felt that the proposed Directive could help individuals unfairly excluded from services, for example, because of their age.
Background
The UK Consultation on the European Commission’s (EC) proposal for an Equal Treatment Directive to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation outside the areas of employment and vocational training was led by the Government’s Equality Office and ran from 5 May 2009 to 28 July 2009. They consulted in particular on the impact of the draft Directive in those areas where its proposals differ from current and proposed UK law, and to seek views on the impact of the proposals on individuals, business and others.
Next Steps
Negotiations on the directive are continuing in Europe.