Ministers treating middle class elderly like 'second class citizens' Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: "Under the current system, two older people in the same care home can receive very different levels of protection under the Human Rights Act based solely on how their care has been arranged and paid for. This is not only fundamentally wrong, it means that if an older person who pays for their care is abused or suffers from neglect and poor care they have less legal redress than someone in the same unfortunate position whose care is funded by the State. We are disappointed and surprised that the Government wants to keep this loophole intact because they have said they want to improve the position of older people who pay for their own care through this legislation. There is no better way to achieve this than by granting every older person equal access to legal redress if their care goes badly wrong. Care homes can be treated as "public bodies" under the Human Rights Act, meaning that they could be sued for failing to treat elderly people with respect. But this applies only to state - funded residents, meaning that the 40 per cent who pay their own way are not protected. However, the amendment could be blocked when the care bill passes through the House of Commons. A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Extending the Human Rights Act in this way would not make people or providers treat those they care for with any more dignity and respect than they should. People with private care will still have rights and protections under current law.