{"id":46936,"date":"2023-05-12T14:30:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T13:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/?p=46936"},"modified":"2023-05-12T16:06:08","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T15:06:08","slug":"duty-of-care-justified-or-flawed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/05\/12\/duty-of-care-justified-or-flawed\/","title":{"rendered":"Duty of Care: justified or flawed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Next month, the legal duty of care for university students will be debated in parliament after a campaign was launched in September of last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petition<\/a>, which was brought by the #ForThe100<\/a> campaign group and received over 120,000 signatures, is aimed at improving mental health services in universities, in a bid to reduce the number of students taking their own lives, by calling for a statutory duty of care for students to be imposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the moment, there is duty of care legislation in place for university staff as well as students under the age of 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ONS data<\/a> revealed 64 university students took their own lives in the academic year ending 2020 in England and Wales. The campaign group believes this figure to be around 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike McCarthy, who helped create the suicide prevention charity, Baton of Hope<\/a>, said: \u201cIf you\u2019re under 35, man or woman, the biggest threat to your life is you. Not covid, cancer, drugs, road accidents, it\u2019s you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the aims of the petition are broadly agreed upon, there are concerns over privacy, funding and accountability with lecturers and university standards groups expressing their concerns about how this might be achieved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What duties do universities have?<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

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Currently, there is no legislative framework for universities and their duty of care toward their students. However, recommendations regarding a university\u2019s approach to mental well-being and suicide have been made by Universities UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Steve West CBE, President of Universities UK and Vice-Chancellor of UWE Bristol believes a statutory duty of care is not the correct approach to drive change and help in prevention and early intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cWe do not believe the proposed additional statutory duty of care, beyond the existing duties that already apply to universities, would be practical, proportionate, or the best approach to supporting students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sceptics of the legislative approach argue universities already provide mental well-being resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for the Department of Education, said: \u201cWe expect all universities to take active steps to prevent suicides and support students\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery student death is a tragedy and we recognise that there are those with personal experience of these tragic events who have signed this petition, which will now be considered for debate in Parliament.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key point of contention between advocates and those expressing concerns about the proposed legislation is the belief that there already is an existing expectation of care, despite no legal mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgina Calvert-Lee, a senior consultant and barrister at Bellevue Law<\/a>, said: \u201cUniversities\u2019 response is that they already do this, they don\u2019t need to be mandated \u2014 but then why do they care if it\u2019s a requirement, if they\u2019re already complying?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation put forward by the petition already has support in Parliament from members who acknowledge the lack of a legal framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said: “There is currently a lack of legal protections for students who don’t benefit from the Equality Act and it is right that this should be changed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some advocates are pushing for more, though, claiming current services are not robust enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr McCarthy said: \u201cThe very clear picture that we get is that the support for students in terms of mental health provision and suicide prevention is inadequate \u2014 there\u2019s no way to dress this up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The implications and concerns surrounding it<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

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One of the biggest concerns surrounding the implementation of a duty of care legal mandate is accountability. Universities fear this might create an avenue to unjustly punish, not only institutions but also individual staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rory (right) on holiday in Portugal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Dr Mark Shanahan is a politics lecturer who has been advocating for duty of care in higher education since his son, Rory, took his own life in 2018 when he was studying at the University of Sheffield. He believes fears around accountability on individual staff are misplaced and a duty of care would actually create a legal avenue to hold those who have failed to fulfil their role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThere is an unfounded fear that universities will be sued when things go wrong. In my son\u2019s case, there was a systemic failure, not a failure of individuals, and we think this will usually be the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ms Calvert-Lee agrees and believes the legislation the petition demands would, in fact, present an opportunity for universities to invest and \u201creorganise their processes and hire whatever staff they need\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, those concerned about the petition don\u2019t believe this will actually happen through a legislative mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for AMOSSHE<\/a>, a student services organisation which will be attending the Committee Petition evidence session on May 16, said: \u201cIt is our view that increased funding for student mental health services in the NHS is a greater priority than an additional duty of care on universities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, critics of the petition believe the proposals will not result in more mental health professionals being hired, but rather a heavier burden on existing staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Moss, a senior history lecturer at the University of Northampton, took to Twitter to voice her concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As someone bereaved by suicide (so understands something of the intense grief, though obviously I didn\u2019t lose my child), I am sympathetic but extremely wary of making unis responsible for what are legally adults. A whole bunch of issues here: https:\/\/t.co\/yl6Wl6pmw2<\/a><\/p>— Rachel Moss (@menysnoweballes) March 17, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>