Positive Risk-Taking and Safeguarding: Balancing Safety and Autonomy
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Positive risk-taking is central to person-centred care, but it is also an area where providers often feel uncertain during inspection. CQC does not expect services to remove all risk. It expects providers to demonstrate thoughtful, informed and well-governed decision-making.
This article explains how CQC assesses positive risk-taking and how providers can evidence safe practice in line with outcomes and impact and governance and leadership expectations.
What Positive Risk-Taking Means in Practice
Positive risk-taking involves supporting people to make choices and live meaningful lives, even where those choices involve managed risk.
CQC expects providers to demonstrate that risk decisions are person-centred, informed and proportionate. Blanket restrictions or risk-averse practice can undermine inspection outcomes as much as unmanaged risk.
Assessing Capacity and Informed Choice
Inspectors look closely at how providers assess capacity and support informed decision-making. This includes ensuring people understand risks, benefits and alternatives.
Where individuals lack capacity, CQC expects best interests decisions that consider the person’s wishes, views of others and least restrictive options.
Risk Assessment and Dynamic Management
Risk assessments should be living documents that reflect real-life practice. Inspectors often review whether assessments are reviewed following incidents, changes in need or changes in choice.
Providers should be able to show how risks are managed dynamically, rather than relying on static controls that limit independence unnecessarily.
Safeguarding Oversight of Risk Decisions
CQC assesses how safeguarding and risk management intersect. Providers should evidence how high-risk decisions are escalated, reviewed and monitored.
This includes governance oversight, multi-disciplinary input where appropriate and clear documentation of decision-making rationales.
Staff Confidence and Consistency
Staff confidence is critical to positive risk-taking. Inspectors often test whether staff understand risk management plans and can explain how they balance safety with choice.
Supervision and training should reinforce consistent approaches and reduce reliance on overly restrictive responses.
Inspection-Ready Positive Risk-Taking
Providers that can clearly articulate how they support positive risk-taking demonstrate maturity, confidence and strong leadership.
When risk is managed transparently and reviewed regularly, it becomes evidence of responsive, person-centred care rather than a safeguarding weakness.
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