GPAtlasWhat it covers
What happens after a concern leaves the practice: the local authority's duty to enquire under the Care Act 2014, the outcome the person wants, and the part a surgery plays in getting there. The ten types of abuse and neglect, the six a practice meets most, and the shape each one takes in a record. Mental capacity inside a safeguarding decision, and sharing with and without agreement. Keeping the record safe, from the NHS App to a police request. Writing a referral the council can act on, and what a safeguarding adults review asks of a GP.
Who it is for
Practice managers and deputies, care navigators, reception managers, safeguarding administrators, healthcare assistants and pharmacy technicians. It carries the Level 1 outcomes forward. GPs, practice nurses, pharmacists and paramedics need Level 3, so this is a step towards it.
By the end you will be able to
- Recognise harm, abuse and neglect, and how all ten types reach a practice.
- Explain the section 42 duty, who holds it, and what we contribute.
- Put the person's own outcome first, and ask for advocacy when it is needed.
- Apply the Mental Capacity Act to consent for a safeguarding referral.
- Share lawfully, record why, and code and protect what the record holds.
- Write a referral, join an enquiry, escalate, and contribute to a review.
Modules
- Inside a section 42 enquiry
- Patterns a practice actually meets
- Capacity, consent and lawful sharing
- Referrals, reviews and raising concerns
- Boundaries, exploitation and high-risk abuse
- Keeping the record safe
Level 2 includes and builds on Level 1, so a valid Level 2 certificate covers Level 1 as well.
Content mapped to the learning outcomes of the Core Skills Training Framework (England) v1.1: Safeguarding Adults, Level 2. Law named: Care Act 2014, section 42; Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Sources
- Care Act 2014, section 42: enquiry by local authority
- Care Act 2014, section 43: Safeguarding Adults Boards
- Care Act 2014, section 44: safeguarding adults reviews
- Care Act 2014, section 45: supply of information to a Safeguarding Adults Board
- Care Act 2014, section 68: independent advocacy in safeguarding enquiries and reviews
- Care and support statutory guidance, chapter 14 (Department of Health and Social Care, updated 22 July 2025): 14.17 (financial abuse includes theft, fraud, internet scamming and coercion over wills, property or financial transactions), 14.28 to 14.31 (scams are financial abuse, reported to the police and Trading Standards; the Office of the Public Guardian for attorneys), 14.120 to 14.127 (allegations against people in positions of trust, conduct towards an adult or child, the local authority designated officer where it bears on work with children, report at once to a senior manager, and the barring referral even where the person left first)
- Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 2: people who lack capacity
- Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 3: inability to make decisions
- Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 4: best interests
- Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, Part 2, paragraph 18: safeguarding of children and of individuals at risk
- Modern Slavery Act 2015, section 52: duty to notify about suspected victims
- Core Skills Training Framework (England) Statutory/Mandatory Subject Guide v1.1 (Skills for Health), Safeguarding Adults: Key Learning Outcomes, Level 2 (archived copy)
- Adult Safeguarding: Roles and Competencies for Health Care Staff, 2nd edition (Royal College of Nursing, July 2024), Level 2 competencies
- GP mythbuster 25: Safeguarding adults at risk (Care Quality Commission, updated 4 September 2024)
- Level 2 safeguarding training and standards (Royal College of General Practitioners)
- Second national analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews: April 2019 to March 2023, executive summary (Local Government Association and ADASS)
- A Guide to Multi-Agency Meetings When Responding to Risk and Harm to Adults, version 2 (Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Adults Board, March 2025)
- Safeguarding Adult Review guidance, January 2023 (Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board): chronologies and agency reports
- Information sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners (HM Government): the source of the seven rules, now redirecting to the children and young people statutory guidance
- Seven golden rules for safeguarding information sharing (Swindon Safeguarding Partnership), quoting the HM Government advice
- Safeguarding Adults Level 2 session, elearning for healthcare (learning outcomes aligned to the Core Skills Training Framework)
- Designated professionals (NHS Safeguarding guide, NHS England): expert and strategic safeguarding leaders advising integrated care boards
- Making barring referrals to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS): the legal duty to refer
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 1: definition of domestic abuse
- Confidentiality: good practice in handling patient information (General Medical Council): disclosures in the public interest
- Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 1: the principles
- A Local Authority v JB [2021] UKSC 52 (UK Supreme Court, 24 November 2021): the functional question first, then whether an impairment of, or disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain causes the inability
- A Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland [2026] UKSC 16, press summary (UK Supreme Court, 2 June 2026): Cheshire West overruled, a multifactorial assessment, valid consent by a person lacking capacity, and no inference of consent where there is serious doubt
- UK Supreme Court 2026 judgment on what constitutes a deprivation of liberty (Department of Health and Social Care, 15 June 2026): DoLS in hospitals and care homes, the Court of Protection elsewhere
- Prevent duty guidance: England and Wales (2023) (Home Office, updated 6 March 2024)
- Notice, check, share (Home Office, 28 August 2026): check the concern with the safeguarding lead; the person who noticed it is best placed to complete the national referral form, with the lead's support
- Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, section 5B: duty to notify police
- Equality Act 2010, section 4: the protected characteristics
- Online access to new GP health record information, v1.6 (NHS England, Good practice guidelines for GP electronic patient records)
- Redacting information for online record access (NHS England, Good practice guidelines for GP electronic patient records)
- Safeguarding (NHS England, Good practice guidelines for GP electronic patient records): coercion, proxy access and GP2GP
- RCGP Safeguarding toolkit: documenting and coding safeguarding information in the electronic medical record
- RCGP Safeguarding toolkit: safeguarding codes, including adult safeguarding concern and subject of MAPPA
- Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 325: arrangements for assessing risks posed by certain offenders (duty to co-operate)
- Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, paragraph 10: preventing or detecting unlawful acts
- Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 2, paragraph 2: crime and taxation
- Police requests for information from medical records (Londonwide LMCs)
- Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England (Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013), standard 1, guidance 1, 6 and 7: tasks within your job description, clear professional boundaries, and no loans, gifts, benefits or hospitality that may compromise your position (copy hosted by Darlington Borough Council)
- Criminal exploitation of children and vulnerable adults: county lines (Home Office, updated 20 October 2023): cuckooing and the county lines business model, who is vulnerable, closure orders weighed against the victim's safety, and debt bondage
- Crime and Policing Act 2026, section 65 (controlling another's home for criminal purposes) and section 66(6) (when consent counts): prospective, not commenced by the Commencement No. 4 Regulations of 15 October 2026
- The Crime and Policing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/1090), made 15 October 2026, with the note listing every provision commenced so far
- Modern Slavery: statutory guidance for England and Wales, version 4.9 (Home Office, 15 October 2026): paragraph 2.34 on male victims of sexual exploitation, the sexual exploitation indicators at 10.1 and 10.2, and 12.43 to 12.53 on the NHS, including not offering personal support outside professional boundaries
- Sexual Offences Act 2003, section 30: sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice
- SafeLives Dash risk checklist, quick start guidance and checklist (SafeLives, 2019): 24 questions, what to establish before asking, and the recommended MARAC referral criteria of professional judgement, 14 or more ticks and potential escalation
- Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC): guidance for GPs (SafeLives): risk assessed by someone with domestic abuse training, consent not required at high risk, perpetrators not told, the Idva represents the victim, safe recording, and further incidents within 12 months
- LP12: make and register your lasting power of attorney, a guide (Office of the Public Guardian, updated 20 April 2026): an LPA needs the donor's mental capacity; the certificate provider, who may be the GP, confirms the donor understands it, is not under pressure and that there is no fraud, and should discuss it in private, without the attorneys
- Reporting fraud (Stop! Think Fraud, GOV.UK campaign): Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040, 7726 for suspicious calls and texts, and contacting your bank on a known number
GPAtlas is not accredited, verified or endorsed by Skills for Health or NHS England. Acceptance of this training is at the discretion of your employer, who remains responsible for confirming it meets local requirements. Your employer may require more frequent refreshers than the guidance period; the practice's own policy applies. Some pictures and films in our courses, and the film narration, are made with AI tools. We check every one for accuracy before we publish it.