Capacity Assessments
Who assesses capacity, how to run the two-stage test properly, and how to record it so the assessment stands up.
Independent · No adverts · Reviewed 09/07/2026
Adult social care guidance,
explained properly.
An independent educational reference for care workers, team leaders and providers in England. Plain-English summaries of CQC regulations, safeguarding, the Mental Capacity Act, medication, record keeping and more, with links to the official sources.
- 34 topics
- 6 categories
- 3 interactive tools
- 4 printable templates
Browse the topics
Filter by category, or type to narrow the grid. Every page links to the official source.
-
Rights & Safeguarding -
Workforce & Learning Care Certificate Standards
The 15 standards new care workers must meet, how assessment works, and where the newer Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification fits.
-
Care Practice Care Planning
From assessment to living document: writing care and support plans that actually guide a shift and change when the person changes.
-
Records & Governance Confidentiality and UK GDPR
Handling personal information lawfully and kindly: UK GDPR principles, sharing without oversharing, breaches, SARs and the 2025 Data Act changes.
-
Rights & Safeguarding Consent to Care
What valid consent looks like in everyday care, how to handle refusals, and who can consent when the person cannot.
-
Law & Regulation CQC Inspection Preparation
How to be genuinely ready for CQC assessment at any time — evidence, people and premises — without last-minute panic.
-
Law & Regulation CQC Regulations and Fundamental Standards
The fundamental standards every registered provider must meet, the statutory notifications, and how CQC assesses services in 2026.
-
Care Practice Dementia Care
Supporting people living with dementia: communication that works, distress as unmet need, environments that help, and rights that remain.
-
Records & Governance Documentation and Record Keeping
Records that protect people and staff alike: factual, contemporaneous, complete — and what good daily notes actually look like.
-
Rights & Safeguarding DoLS and Liberty Protection Safeguards
How deprivation of liberty is authorised in 2026: DoLS still in force, LPS still pending, and a landmark Supreme Court ruling that changed the definition.
-
Care Practice End of Life Care
Supporting people in their last months, weeks and days: advance care planning, comfort-focused care, the five priorities, and death handled with grace.
-
Rights & Safeguarding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
The Equality Act in care settings: protected characteristics, reasonable adjustments, and inclusion as daily practice rather than a poster.
-
Care Practice Falls Prevention
Reducing falls without shrinking lives: multifactorial assessment under NICE NG249, medication review, strength and balance, and proper post-fall response.
-
Health & Safety Fire Safety
Fire safety in care settings: the Fire Safety Order, PEEPs, evacuation strategies, fire doors, emollient risks and drills that mean something.
-
Health & Safety Food Hygiene
Safe food in care settings: the 4 Cs, temperature control, allergen management after Natasha's Law, and the extra care vulnerable diners need.
-
Workforce & Learning Frequently Asked Questions
Quick, straight answers to the questions care workers and managers ask most — each linking to the fuller topic page.
-
Health & Safety Health and Safety at Work
The core duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act in care settings: risk assessment, COSHH, lone working, equipment and everyday vigilance.
-
Health & Safety Incident Reporting and RIDDOR
What to report, to whom, and by when: internal incident reporting, RIDDOR to HSE, CQC notifications and the duty of candour — plus the culture that makes it work.
-
Health & Safety Infection Prevention and Control
Standard precautions, hand hygiene, PPE and outbreak management — the everyday discipline that keeps infections out of care settings.
-
Law & Regulation Key Legislation
The main Acts and regulations that shape adult social care in England, what each one does, and where reform is heading.
-
Care Practice Medication Management
Safe medicines support from prompting to administration: the six rights, MAR charts, PRN protocols, controlled drugs, covert medication and errors.
-
Rights & Safeguarding Mental Capacity Act 2005
The five principles, the two-stage test, best-interests decisions and what the MCA asks of you in everyday care.
-
Health & Safety Moving and Handling
Safe moving and handling of people: assessments, equipment, LOLER checks, and why controversial techniques stay banned.
-
Care Practice Nutrition and Hydration
Preventing malnutrition and dehydration: screening with MUST, dysphagia and IDDSI, fortification, and making mealtimes matter.
-
Care Practice Person-Centred Care
What person-centred care actually means in practice: the person's own history, preferences and goals steering everything you do.
-
Records & Governance Policies and Procedures
The policy set a care provider needs, how to keep it alive rather than laminated, and how policies connect to real practice.
-
Care Practice Pressure Area Care
Preventing pressure damage: risk assessment, skin checks, repositioning, equipment, and what to do at the first sign of redness.
-
Care Practice Reablement and Intermediate Care
Short-term, goal-focused support that helps people regain skills and confidence — usually after hospital — instead of building dependency.
-
Rights & Safeguarding Recognising Deprivation of Liberty
How to tell restriction from deprivation of liberty in day-to-day care — and what changed with the June 2026 Supreme Court judgment.
-
Health & Safety Risk Assessments
Assessing risk without banning life: the five steps, person-centred risk enablement, dynamic assessment, and reviews that keep pace with people.
-
Rights & Safeguarding Safeguarding Adults
Recognising abuse and neglect, the section 42 duty, Making Safeguarding Personal, and exactly what to do when you have a concern.
-
Records & Governance Templates and Forms
What good care paperwork contains, field by field — plus free printable example templates for training and discussion.
-
Workforce & Learning Training and Development
Building a workforce that knows its stuff: core and specialist training, refresher cycles, competency beyond certificates, and the funding that helps.
-
Rights & Safeguarding Whistleblowing and Speaking Up
How to raise concerns about wrongdoing safely, the legal protection you have, and how good providers make speaking up normal.
No topics match. Try a different word, or .
Interactive tools
Step-by-step walkthroughs of common decision points. Educational aids only — they never replace your organisation's procedures.
-
MCA two-stage test walkthrough
Practise the Mental Capacity Act sequence: support first, then the diagnostic and functional stages, with recording prompts at each outcome.
-
RIDDOR reportable checker
Work out whether an incident looks reportable to HSE under RIDDOR, notifiable to CQC, or recordable locally — with deadlines for each.
-
Safeguarding decision flow
From "something's wrong" to the right people knowing: immediate safety, the three-part test, referral, recording and speaking up.
Built for everyday care work
Written for care workers, senior carers, coordinators and registered managers in England. Each topic gives you the plain-English version first, then the law, what CQC expects, good practice, and worked examples from everyday settings — with references so you can verify everything at source.
Reminder: Educational reference only. Nothing on this site is legal, clinical or professional advice. Guidance changes: always check the current official source before acting. Full disclaimer.