What to do if you’re worried about someone

Adult safeguarding means protecting an adult's right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and stop the risks and experience of abuse or neglect, while making sure the person's wellbeing is promoted.

If you're concerned that someone is neglecting themselves or their environment and may be unable to protect themselves, you should speak to adult social services in the local council area where the person lives. Wherever possible, you should do this with the agreement of the person.

The local council must assess the concern in a way that puts the person first and balances their protection with their rights. If you don't wish to provide your own contact details, you can raise the concern anonymously.

If you want to read more about different types of abuse and neglect and who you can contact if you're worried about someone, visit our Protection from abuse page.  

Mental capacity means being able to make or communicate specific decisions at the time they need to be made. To have mental capacity you must be able to understand the decision you need to make, why you need to make it, and the likely outcome of your decision.

Some people will be able to make decisions about some things but not others. For example, they may be able to decide what to buy for dinner, but not understand how to renew their home insurance. Some people's ability to make decisions may change from day to day, or at different times of day.

Needing more time to understand or communicate doesn't mean you don't have mental capacity. For example, having dementia doesn't necessarily mean that someone can't to make any decisions for themselves.

Where someone is having difficulty communicating a decision, you should always try to help the person decide for themselves rather than decide for them.

This is what the Mental Capacity Act says:

1. Assume a person has the capacity to make a decision themselves, unless it's proved otherwise.
2. Wherever possible, help people to make their own decisions.
3. Don't treat a person as lacking the capacity to make a decision just because they make an unwise decision.
4. If you make a decision for someone who doesn't have capacity, it must be in their best interests.
5. Treatment and care provided to someone who lacks capacity should be the least restrictive of their basic rights and freedoms.

There's lots of useful information about mental capacity, and how to help someone make decisions, on the NHS website.