Part 1

Protection of adults at risk of harm

Inquiries

Disclosure of information by and to certain health care services
5A
1
Where a relevant health care service knows or believes—
a
that a person is an adult at risk, and
b
that action needs to be taken (under this Part or otherwise) in order to protect that person from harm,
the relevant health care service may report the facts and circumstances of the case to the council for the area in which it considers the person to be.
2
A relevant health care service may, of its own accord, provide any information to a public body or office-holder listed in, or specified under, section 5(1) for the purpose of enabling or assisting a council in relation to its duty to make inquiries under section 4.
3
The public bodies or office-holders listed in, or specified under, section 5(1) may, so far as consistent with the proper exercise of their functions, provide any information to a relevant health care service for the purpose of enabling or assisting a council in relation to its duty to make inquiries under section 4.
4
For the purposes of this section, a “
relevant health care service
” means an undertaking which consists of or includes the provision of services by—
a
a doctor,
b
a dental practitioner,
c
a dental care professional,
d
a nurse,
e
a midwife,
f
a registered pharmacist,
g
a registered pharmacy technician,
h
an occupational therapist,
i
a paramedic,
j
an optometrist.
5
In this section—
- “
dental practitioner
” has the meaning given in section 108(1) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978,
- “
dental care professional
” has the meaning given in section 10F(2B) of that Act,
- “
registered pharmacist
” has the meaning given in section 108(1) of that Act,
- “
registered pharmacy technician
” has the meaning given in section 10F(2B) of that Act,
- “
occupational therapist
” means a person who is registered in the part of the register maintained by the Health and Care Professions Council under article 5 of the Health Professions Order 2001 (S.I. 2002/254) relating to occupational therapists,
- “
paramedic
” means a person who is registered in the part of the register maintained by the Health and Care Professions Council under article 5 of the Health Professions Order 2001 relating to paramedics,
- “
optometrist
” means a person registered in the register of optometrists maintained under section 7 of the Opticians Act 1989.
6
The Scottish Ministers may by order modify subsections (4) and (5) so as to change or clarify the types of undertaking which are to be treated as a relevant health care service for the purposes of this section.
Pt. 1 modified (31.3.2012) by The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 (Incidental Provision) (Adult Support and Protection) Order 2012 (S.S.I. 2012/66), arts. 1(1), 2
S. 5A inserted (7.1.2026) by Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 (asp 9), ss. 24(2), 39(2); S.S.I. 2025/388, reg. 2(1)(2), sch. Pt. 1