#TestAccessRights - Contact your MP
BASW's Test, Safe Access, Promote Rights campaign seeks changes to national guidance to allow social workers regular and safe access to health and care settings and supported living, so they can carry out statutory duties on behalf of public bodies and protect the human rights of citizens in care.
BASW has created a simple step-by-step guide for members who would like to support the campaign by contacting their local MP.
Contact your MP: A step-by-step guide
- Supporters should use the parliamentary tool to search for their MP to find the correct email address.
- Email Subject: Letter from your constituent (insert name). This shows the MP or their staff immediately that you are a constituent, which makes them more likely to respond.
- You must include your address in all correspondence with MPs to show that you are a constituent. It is best to put this at the end of the email.
- Copy and paste this template letter in the body of the email, not as an attachment. MPs are advised against opening attachments from unknown people for security reasons, so always put what you want them to read in the body of the email
Template email
Dear (name) MP,
I am a member of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), and I am asking you to support our ‘Test, Safe Access, Promote Rights’ campaign which seeks to change national guidance in England and Wales to allow social workers regular and safe access to health and care settings and supported living so that they can carry out statutory duties on behalf of public bodies in accordance with ethical and regulatory requirements, and protect the human rights of people in care and health settings.
During the pandemic, major concerns have been raised around how the rush to get people out of hospital is driving decision-making and putting the rights and safety of people at risk.
BASW are calling for social workers to be explicitly listed as professional visitors to guarantee their access to health and care settings to ensure that social workers can carry out their duties. It is important that there are checks and balances in place to protect those who need support and advocacy to enable their voice to be heard and to represent their best interests. If social workers do not have access to health and care settings, we cannot do our jobs to protect people from any potential human rights abuses.
Will you write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in support of BASWs campaign to ensure that social workers are explicitly listed as professional visitors, calling for access to regular testing ensuring that social workers face no unnecessary barriers in access to health and care settings?
You can find out more about the campaign here: https://www.basw.co.uk/covid-19/test-safe-access-promote-rights
Yours sincerely,
Constituent name
Constituent address