Understanding Current Legislation in Relation to Health & Social Care

Workbook
Training the Nation

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This workbook identifies all the current legislation, in force in the Health & Social Care sector, which link to your course. For each legislation, there are links
to reference documents.

As part of your course, you should be able to identify the main legislations, describe their main points and state how they affect you in your work role.
Please use this legislation resource, to aid your research. Once you have completed your research, please complete the table, within this workbook. You
may, of course, freely research but be careful to ensure what you use is identifiable and correctly referenced.

Understand Your Role

The Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 : www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) : https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-

eu-data-protection-rules_en

Equality Act 2010 : www.gov.uk/equality-act-2010-guidance

Duty of Care

The Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 : www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm

The Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 : www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3242/contents/made

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) : www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) : www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/

The Provisions and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/puwer.htm

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Equality & Diversity

The Equality Act 2010 : www.gov.uk/equality-act-2010-guidance

The Human Rights Act 1998 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 : www.gov.uk/government/collections/mental-capacity-act-making-decisions

The Care Act 2014 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 : www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-social-care-act-2012-fact-sheets

Code of Conduct : www.skillsforcare.org.uk/code-of-conduct

Person Centred Care

The Care Act 2014 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/

The Mental Capacity Act 2005. : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/contents

Communication

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) : https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-

eu-data-protection-rules_en

The Human Rights Act 1998 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents

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Fluids & Nutrition

Food Safety Act 1990 : www.food.gov.uk www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/eatwell-plate.aspx

Mental Health, Dementia & Learning Disabilities

The Human Rights Act 1998 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 : www.gov.uk/government/collections/mental-capacity-act-making-decisions

The Care Act 2014 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) : https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-

eu-data-protection-rules_en

Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/20/contents

CQC Fundamental Standards of Quality and Safety: www.qcs.co.uk/cqc-fundamental-standards

Safeguarding Adults National Framework : www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-adults-the-role-of-health-services

Safeguarding Adults

The Care Act 2014 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/

The Equality Act 2010 : www.gov.uk/equality-act-2010-guidance

The Human Rights Act 1998 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents

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The Mental Capacity Act 2005 : www.gov.uk/government/collections/mental-capacity-act-making-decisions

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) : https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-

eu-data-protection-rules_en

Safeguarding Adults National Framework : www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-adults-the-role-of-health-services

Safeguarding Children

The Human Rights Act 1998 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) : www.unicef.org.uk/UNICEFs-Work/UN-Convention/

The Children Act 1989: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/contents

The Children Act 2004: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/31/contents

The Sexual Offences Act 2003: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/contents

The Children and Families Act 2014: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/contents/enacted

The Care Act 2014 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/

Health & Safety

The Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 : www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm

The Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 : www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3242/contents/made

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The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) : www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) : www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 : www.hse.gov.uk/msd/pushpull/regulations.htm

The Provisions and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/puwer.htm

The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) : www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/loler.htm

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 : www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/contents/made

Food Safety Act 1990 : www.food.gov.uk www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/eatwell-plate.aspx

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 (amended 2013): www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/legislation.htm

Medicines Act 1968 (c.67) (Partially repealed by the Human Medicines Regulations 2012): www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/legislation-covering-medicines

The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971: www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/misuse-drugs-legislations

Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002 : www.ppe.org/ppe-regulations/

Handling Information

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) : https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-

eu-data-protection-rules_en

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 : www.gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-information-request/the-freedom-of-information-act

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Employment Rights and Responsibilities

Working Time Directive and Working Time Regulations 1998 : www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/workingtimedirective.htm

The Equality Act 2010 : www.gov.uk/equality-act-2010-guidance

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 : www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/3004/contents/made

Employment Rights Act 1996 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents

National Minimum Wage : www.gov.uk/government/publications/enforcing-national-minimum-wage-law

Please now complete the table, to demonstrate your understanding of

the legislation and how it applies to your job role.

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Legislation Main Points How I implement this in work. Please make reference to your own
work place policies and also, which of the 6 C’s this links to

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people In our company, Sefton New Directions, do not treat differently any of our
from discrimination in the workplace and in users and we make sure that everyone has the opportunity to take part
Equality Act 2010 wider society. This act protects the following when they want to. We avoid discrimination based on person-centred care
characteristics or groups: and following the 6C’s: courage to challenge or confront situations that we
think are not right and that do not promote the wellbeing of all individuals.
- Age
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
- Disability

There are two kinds of discrimination:

Direct discrimination occurs when someone is

treated less favourably than someone else in
similar circumstances on the grounds of a

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 protected characteristic. Indirect discrimination
occurs when a condition or requirement is
applied equally to everyone, but some are
unable to comply because of a protected
characteristic.

The Human Rights Act gives effect to the In our company we treat everybody as human beings and we respect their
human rights set out in the European desires and needs. The human rights act is linked to 6Cs the care and
Human Rights Act 1998 Convention on Human Rights. These rights are compassion.
called Convention rights.
Examples of Convention or human rights
include:

 the right to life

 the right to respect for private and
family life
 the right to freedom of religion and
belief

The Human Rights Act means you can take

action in the UK courts if your human rights
have been breached. The Human Rights Act

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 protects everyone in the UK.
The Care Act sets out some key principles on The care act is linked to 6C’s in Care and Compassion. Using your person-
how health and social care professionals should centred approach and knowledge of them as an individual.
Care Act 2014 work. Those principles are: In our company we follow the care act respecting the users wishes, feelings
and believes in every visit. We keep an eye on users can be at risky to be
 You know best
neglected or abuse.
 Your views, wishes, feelings and beliefs
should always be considered

The main aim of professionals should be on

your well-being, on reducing your need for care
and support, and on reducing the likelihood
that you will need care and support in the
future:

 Any decisions made should take into

account all relevant circumstances
 Any decisions should be made with
your involvement
 Your well-being should be balanced
with that of any involved family and
friends
 Professionals should always work to
protect you and other people from
abuse and neglect
 Professionals should ensure that any
actions taken to support protect you

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 affect your rights and freedom as little
as possible

General Data Protection The GDPR come into force from 25th May In terms of confidentiality our company follows the Data Protection Act.
Regulations 2018 2018. Every organisation that holds and 1998, keeping the information of the patient in confidentiality. We have
processes personal data will be affected. The passwords in our phones and the app to protect the personal information
General Data Protection
of our users, such as telephone numbers, home addresses, pin numbers for
Regulation (GDPR) which is designed to enable
key safes and medical records. This is linked to 6Cs in competence.
individuals to better control their personal
data. It is hoped that these modernised and
unified rules will allow businesses to make the
most of the opportunities of the Digital Single
Market by reducing regulation and benefiting
from reinforced consumer trust.
Freedom of Information Act The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides The freedom of information act 2000 is linked to the 6Cs in competence. In
2000 public access to information held by public our company our users or employees are in their right to access to their
authorities. It does this in two ways: personal information.
- public authorities are obliged to publish
certain information about their activities
- members of the public are entitled to request
information from public authorities

Recorded information includes printed

documents, computer files, letters, emails,
photographs, and sound or video recordings.
The primary purpose of the MCA is to promote Our company follow the MCA protecting adults who are unable to make
and safeguard decision-making within a legal decisions for themselves and they are in a vulnerable position. This is

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Mental Capacity Act 2005 framework. It does this in two ways: linked to 6Cs in compassion, care and communication.

 by empowering people to make

decisions for themselves wherever
possible, and by protecting people who
lack capacity by providing a flexible
framework that places individuals at
the heart of the decision-making
process
 by allowing people to plan ahead for a
time in the future when they might lack
the capacity, for any number

The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 applies to

everyone involved in the care, treatment and
support of people aged 16 and over living in
England and Wales who are unable to make all
or some decisions for themselves.
The MCA also supports those who have
capacity and choose to plan for their future –
this is everyone in the general population who
is over the age of 18.

Safeguarding Adults National The safeguarding adults national framework Our company follows the safeguarding adults national framework making
Framework assist NHS commissioners, health service sure that we protect the users when they are in the most vulnerable
managers and practitioners in preventing and situations. This is linked to 6Cs in compassion, care and competence.
responding to neglect and abuse, focusing on

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 patients in the most vulnerable situations. The
documents include good practice principles and
examples. Health services have a duty to
safeguard all patients but provide additional
measures for patients who are less able to
protect themselves from harm or abuse.
Safeguarding adults covers a spectrum of
activity from prevention through to multi
agency responses where harm and abuse
occurs. Multi agency procedures apply where
there is concern of neglect, harm or abuse to a
patient defined as vulnerable. Safeguarding
adults is an integral part of patient care. Duties
to safeguard patients are required by
professional regulators, service regulators and
supported in law.

The skills for care code of conduct promote In our company we follow code of conduct and we make sure that we
that as an Adult Social Care Worker in England promote the privacy, dignity, rights, health and wellbeing of the users. This
Skills for Care Code of you must: is linked with care, competence and compassion.
Conduct - Be accountable by making sure you can
answer for your actions or omissions
- Promote and uphold the privacy, dignity,
rights, health and wellbeing of people who use
health and care services and their carers at all

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Health & Social Care Act 2012
times
- Work in collaboration with your colleagues to
ensure the delivery of high quality, safe and
compassionate healthcare, care and support.
- Communicate in an open, and effective way to
promote the health, safety and wellbeing of
people who use health and care services and
their carers
- Respect a person’s right to confidentiality
- Strive to improve the quality of healthcare,
care and support through continuing
professional development
- Uphold and promote equality, diversity and
inclusion
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 introduced The health and social care act is connected with the 6CS in care,
the first legal duties about health inequalities. It compassion and commitment. Our company follows the health and social
included specific duties for health bodies act reducing the health inequalities.
including the Department of Health, Public
Health England, Clinical Commissioning Groups,
and NHS England which require the bodies to
have due regard to reducing health inequalities
between the people of England. The Act also
brought in changes for local authorities on
public health functions.
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 puts
clinicians at the centre of commissioning, frees
up providers to innovate, empowers patients
and gives a new focus to public health. 

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Health & Safety at Work Act Employees have a general obligation under the In our company we follow the health and safety at work act 1974 making
1974 health and safety at work act 1974 to take care sure our place of work is safe. This is linked to 6Cs to competence and
of safety as: commitment.

 Securing the health, safety and

welfare of persons at work
 Protecting persons, other than persons
at work, against risks to health or safety
arising out of or in connection with the
activities of persons at work
 Controlling the keeping and use
of explosive or highly flammable or
otherwise dangerous substances, and
generally preventing the unlawful
acquisition, possession and use of such
substances

The Management of Health &
Safety Regulations 1999
The Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999 (MHSWR). The MHSWR
establish a duty on employers to undertake
general risk assessments to protect persons
who may be affected by work activity. 
In our company our managers introduced a general duty on employers to
carry out risk assessments in the users that they visit. This is linked to 6Cs
in competence and communication.

Employers are required to have arrangements

in place to cover health and safety. Employers
are required to appoint competent persons,
preferably their own employees, to assist them
in discharging their health and safety

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 responsibilities. Employers are required to have
procedures in place to deal with serious and
imminent danger. Employers sharing a
workplace must co-operate with each other
and co-ordinate their health and safety
activities. 
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Our company follows RIDDOR Regulations 2013 in case of an accident,
Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 cover injury or death work related. This is linked to 6Cs in competence and
RIDDOR Regulations 2013 the reporting of work-related deaths, injuries courage.
and diseases to be reported only when:
- there has been an accident which caused the
injury
- the accident was work-related
- the injury is of a type which is reportable
In relation to RIDDOR, an accident is a separate,
identifiable, unintended incident, which causes
physical injury. This specifically includes acts of
non-consensual violence to people at work.
Responsible persons are generally employers
but also include various managers and
occupiers of premises.
COSHH is the law that requires employers to In our company we follow COSHH Regulations 2002. We have risk
control substances that are hazardous to health assessments in every user’s house. One of the managers goes to assess the
COSHH Regulations 2002 and includes nanomaterials. You can prevent or place and make sure everything is safe and out of risk. This is linked to 6Cs
reduce workers' exposure to hazardous
in competence.
substances by:

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  finding out what the health hazards are
 deciding how to prevent harm to health
(risk assessment)
 providing control measures to reduce
harm to health
 making sure they are used
 keeping all control measures in good
working order
 providing information, instruction and
training for employees and others
 providing monitoring and health
surveillance in appropriate cases
 planning for emergencies

Manual Handling Operations The manual handling operations regulations In our job we follow the manual handling operations regulations every
Regulations 1992 1992 define manual handling as, any time we have to lift, pushing down, carrying or moving. We have had a few
transporting or supporting of a load (including sessions of empirical and theoretical training a few times a year. These
the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling,
regulations are linked to 6Cs in competence.
carrying or moving thereof) by hand or bodily
force. The MHOR 1992 set out a clear ranking
of measures for dealing with risks from manual
handling, these are:
- first : avoid hazardous manual handling
operations so far as is reasonably practicable
- second : assess any hazardous manual
handling operations that cannot be avoided

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Provision and Use of Work
Equipment Regulations 1998
- third: reduce the risk of injury so far as is
reasonably practicable
These Regulations, PUWER, place duties on At our company the managers visit the home of the users to assess and
people and companies who own, operate or make sure the environment and the equipment they have is suitable for
have control over work equipment. PUWER use and in good condition. We also have to check the equipment that we
also places responsibilities on businesses and
are using with the users in every visit. This is linked to 6Cs in competence.
organisations whose employees use work
equipment, whether owned by them or not.
PUWER requires that equipment provided for
use at work is:

 suitable for the intended use

 safe for use, maintained in a safe
condition and inspected to ensure it is
correctly installed and does not
subsequently deteriorate
 used only by people who have received
adequate information, instruction and
training
 accompanied by suitable health and
safety measures, such as protective
devices and controls.
 used in accordance with specific
requirements, for mobile work
equipment and power presses

Lifting Operations & Lifting The Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment At our company we follow the Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment
Regulations 1998 (LOLER). The purpose of the Regulations 1998 (LOLER). For example, in our visits to the users

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Equipment Regulations 1998 regulations was to reduce the risk of injury sometimes we have users with stairs lifts in their homes and they have to
from lifting equipment used at work. Areas have the right weight and size following the LOLER in their stairs lifts. This
covered in the regulations include the is linked with 6Cs in Competence.
requirement for lifting equipment to be strong
and stable enough for safe use and to be
marked to indicate safe working loads; ensuring
that any equipment is positioned and installed
so as to minimise risks; that the equipment is
used safely ensuring that work is planned,
organised and performed by a competent
person; that equipment is subject to ongoing
thorough examination and where appropriate,
inspection by competent people.
Personal Protective Personal protective equipment regulations We follow the personal protective equipment regulations 2002. Our
Equipment Regulations 2002 2002 regulate that employers have duties company provided us with disposables gloves and aprons for applying
concerning the provision and use of personal creams or helping with personal care. This is linked to the 6Cs competence.
protective equipment (PPE) at work. PPE is
equipment that will protect the user against
health or safety risks at work. It can
include items such as safety helmets, gloves,
eye protection, high-visibility clothing, safety
footwear and safety harnesses. It also includes
respiratory protective equipment (RPE). The
Regulations also require that PPE is:
- properly assessed before use to make sure it
is fit for purpose
- maintained and stored properly
- provided with instructions on how to use it

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 safely
- used correctly by employees

Please use this area to add

any other legislation,
regulation or code of conduct,
which you feel applies to your
role.

Learner name: Learner signature: Date completed

Learner Attendance
Log (Copy)
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