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The Equality and Human Rights Commission has welcomed legislation to secure human rights protection for those in private care homes.
An amendment to the health and social care bill was tabled in the House of Lords following its campaigning, the commission said.
It expects the amendment to be passed, which will mean residents of private nursing homes are covered by the Human Rights Act and will be able to mount a legal challenge if they are mistreated.
The commission has statutory powers to advise the government on legislation and it expects 300,000 elderly people and 35,000 younger adults with disabilities who reside in care homes to benefit from the amendment.
John Wadham, legal group director at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: "In one legislative stroke, hundreds of thousands of people will now have the same right to be treated with dignity and respect as residents in local authority-run homes.
"The careless, the abusive and the downright cruel will now be breaking the act, if they neglect those in care."
Law Lords decided in June last year that people in private care homes did not have the same rights under the Human Rights Act as those in public care homes.
