Protect adults from abuse and follow the Mental Capacity Act

Two sets of law govern how a health or care provider protects adults who may not be able to protect themselves. The Care Act 2014 and the regulations behind your registration cover abuse and neglect. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 covers decisions for people who cannot make them.

Know what counts as abuse and who acts

Act when abuse or neglect happens in your service

Where the abuse is by your own staff or in your setting, the first responsibility to act is yours as the employing organisation. Statutory guidance says that once you are aware of abuse or neglect you must correct it and protect the adult as soon as possible. You must also tell the local authority and, where it commissions the care, the integrated care board.

Tell the Commission without delay too about any incident the police report on or investigate involving someone who uses your service.

Investigate the concern yourself unless there is a compelling reason not to, for example a conflict of interest in a family-run business. Where you dismiss or move someone out of regulated activity after a safeguarding incident, or they leave to avoid a disciplinary hearing and you would have dismissed them, you have a legal duty to refer them to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Ill-treating or wilfully neglecting a person who lacks capacity is a criminal offence for anyone who has their care, and carries up to five years in prison on indictment. Care workers and care providers can also commit related offences under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, and a provider commits one where its management or organisation grossly breaches its duty of care and ill-treatment or neglect results.

Decide for people who may lack capacity

Tell the Commission about liberty decisions

You must tell the Commission once the outcome is known of any request for a standard authorisation, and of any application to the Court of Protection about depriving a person of their liberty.