Legislation protecting people in care

Overview National Assistance Act 1948 Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 NHS and Community Care Act 1990 National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 Human Rights Act 1998 Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 Equality Act 2010 Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 Public Bodies (Joint working) (Scotland) Act 2014 Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 Further information about legislation

Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000

The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 protects the welfare, property and finances of some adults. This includes adults who have a mental health condition or a physical disability which means they cannot communicate, and are not able to do things like:

• make decisions
• communicate decisions
• understand decisions
• remember decisions

This includes people with:

• a learning disability
• dementia
• a mental health condition
• head injury
• a physical disability that prevents them from communicating

It allows other people to make decisions on behalf of these adults about things like:

• arranging services
• managing finances
• property and medical treatment