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.
Chapter 5: Review process
Review Process – Purpose
For Anne’s Law to be effective, residents and their loved ones must have the right to ask care home providers to review any decision to suspend visits. This is not necessarily a complaint. It may be an opportunity to bring new information to light or emphasise the importance of an existing circumstance or need.
For care home providers, this means that they must have a process in place so that a review of a decision can be requested. This can be requested by any individual, for example a resident, family member or friend of a resident.
Valid Requests
If a care home decides to suspend visiting, an individual can ask for a review of that decision. For the individual’s review to be valid, they must have grounds to request it.
Those grounds are that:
1.during the suspension, the resident:
i.may die
ii.may experience a significant deterioration in their physical or mental condition
iii.is likely to experience harm to their health or wellbeing that is serious enough to outweigh the serious risk. There is a presumption that suspending visits from Essential Care Supporters would be likely to cause such harm to the resident
2.there has been a failure to comply with the code of practice related to the suspension of visits
3.the circumstances that led to the suspension of visits have changed. For example, if during an outbreak of disease, one unit of the care home has become free from infection but the care home hasn’t started allowing visits there again
Requesting the Review
A request to review a visiting decision must be made in writing. This means the request can be hand-delivered to the care home or sent by email or by post. The care home provider might have their own paper or electronic form. Care homes should provide assistance and reassurance to anyone who may need extra support to submit a request in writing. How to request this support should be clear in any communication about the review process and included in the visiting policy. For example, a care home manager or support staff could type a note on the behalf of a person, if a request is made verbally.
The care home’s policy will detail who the request should go to. This will either be:
- the care home manager
- the duty manager
- another nominated person who has been designated as the contact person during the outbreak
The request should include one of the three grounds above, including the reason why the review is being requested.
After the care home receives a request, they:
- should acknowledge the request within one working day
- should communicate the outcome within two working days
The review should be considered or signed off by another senior staff member where possible. For example, a regional manager.
In some situations, such as towards the end of a care home resident’s life, the outcome of a review should be communicated as soon as possible. For more complex situations this may take longer, such as where advice is needed from multiple sources to support the decision and evaluate the risk . However, the care home provider should aim to communicate their decision within two days. Providers should keep those who have requested a review informed of any delay or where more time is required to undertake a review.
When making a decision about a request to review a visiting decision, the care home provider must consider whether the suspension remains necessary, proportionate and time-limited, in line with the principles of Anne’s Law.
Care homes should seek advice when appropriate from others, such as:
- the local health protection team
- the resident’s social worker
- the Care Inspectorate
The care home manager must keep a record of all requests alongside who they consulted and the decision.
If the requester is not satisfied with the outcome of a review, they can:
- send an appeal to the care home. The steps to do this should be explained clearly in the care home’s policy (this information should be easy for the requestor to find)
- request support through the Care Inspectorate complaints process. Concern or complaints to the Care Inspectorate may be raised at any time
More information about different ways to make a complaint will be published on 25 March 2026 in the Upholding Your Rights: Feedback and Complaints Section of the National Care Service Charter of Rights.