Care risk assessment

What you need to know

The plain-English guidance that comes with this document.

• Person-specific, not generic. This isn't the workplace risk assessment (that's separate) — it's about this person's risks in their care: their falls risk, their swallowing, their skin, their medication. A generic form with no individual detail helps no one and won't stand up to inspection.
• Manage risk, don't remove choice. The goal isn't a risk-free life — that's not a life. It's positive risk-taking: enabling the person to do what matters to them as safely as possible, and recording that you weighed it up with them. Locking someone down to avoid all risk is its own kind of harm.
• The big killers in care: falls, choking, pressure sores, medication. Give these the closest attention. A missed swallowing risk or an unmanaged falls risk is exactly the kind of thing that leads to serious harm and a safeguarding investigation.
• It links the plan to reality. The controls here should show up in the care plan and in daily practice. A risk assessment that identifies a hazard and changes nothing is worse than none.
• Review after any change or incident. A fall, a hospital stay, weight loss, a new diagnosis or medication — any of these means reassess. Otherwise review regularly.
• Professionally structured starting point — tailor and sign off. A competent assessor or registered manager adapts and signs this for the individual; it's not "compliant out of the box".
• Applies UK-wide. Person-centred risk assessment is expected by all four nations' regulators. Pair it with your workplace safety documents (moving & handling, lone working) for the staff-safety side.