Publication - Advice and guidance
The Care Home Services (Visits to and by Care Home Residents) (Scotland) Regulations 2026: Anne's Law - code of practice 31 March 2026
'Anne’s Law’ describes a series of legal acts and regulations that give new duties to care homes to strengthen the rights of people living in adult care homes to see and spend time with people who are important to them. The code of practice explains how these duties should work day-to-day.
Annex A
What the Act states about the Code of Practice
The Act states that Scottish Ministers must create a code of practice (referred to as the Code) that explains how care homes should meet their duties to:
- identify at least one Essential Care Supporter for each resident unless the resident chooses not to have one (or one cannot be identified)
- facilitate visits to and by residents
- take appropriate actions when visiting is suspended for any reason
The Code must make clear that, when carrying out these duties, the most important things to consider are:
- how visits help residents keep their dignity
- how visits support their physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing
- how visits protect their human rights
- how family and friends play a vital role, alongside staff, in providing care, companionship and advocacy
The Code may also include:
- guidance on creating visiting policies, updating care plans to include visiting preferences and giving written notice of any changes to visiting arrangements with reasons
- examples of best practice for working with residents and their families to make visits happen
- advice on how to reduce risks without stopping visits, and what factors to weigh when deciding if stopping visits would cause more harm than the risk itself
- any other guidance Ministers think is helpful
The Act also:
- states that Scottish Ministers must publish the Code in a way that is easy for people to access and understand
- sets out the requirement for Ministerial reporting on the duties imposed on care home providers
- states that the Code must be reviewed no longer than five years after publication