Call to clarify offence of wilful neglect
The BMA will continue to press for fairness if a new offence of wilful neglect or ill treatment becomes law.
Clause 17 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill would make it ‘an offence for an individual who has the care of another individual by virtue of being a care worker to ill-treat or wilfully to neglect that individual’.
If passed, the bill would make wilful neglect of patients by healthcare professionals a statutory offence, opening the way to criminal sanctions.