Hempsons is an award-winning law firm committed to the health, social care and charities sectors, with a dedicated national team of experts across five offices in the UK.

Hempsons is able to support and advise providers in relation to all aspects of their business activity, including CQC regulatory issues, employment law, coroner’s inquests and safeguarding concerns. We also have a superb corporate commercial team who can support providers looking to expand or sell their business, negotiate commercial agreements and contracts, tender for business or deal with disputes of a commercial nature.

We are experts at challenging decisions through the mechanism of judicial review, something we have successfully accomplished in partnership with the Independent Care Group in North Yorkshire for the benefit of its members.

“The diligence and hard work shown by Hempsons was outstanding and the commitment and dedication shown by them towards getting a positive outcome went far beyond what we might have expected.”

Mike Padgham
Chair, Independent Care Group

We are passionate about supporting the care sector and sharing our knowledge and expertise via free webinars, podcasts and blogs. We also offer up to 30 minutes’ free advice to all social care providers via our social care legal advice line.

Access our free legal resources for social care providers

Hempsons provide a range of training to assist providers, including:

CQC: using our in-depth knowledge of CQC, the fundamental standards of care and the single assessment framework. We provide training to support providers to enhance the lives of the people they support and to aide regulatory compliance.

Inquests: our inquests training helps providers understand the inquest process and what to expect, focusing on specific issues for social care providers.

Court of Protection: what to expect and what purposes the Court can serve from the perspective of social care providers.

Employment: a wide range of training to support workforce issues including international recruitment, recruitment and contracts and managing absence.

Property: bespoke premises training.

Hempsons offer a bespoke service, tailored to meet each client’s needs

Regulatory expertise

We have worked for many years with both regulatory bodies and providers in social care. We advise on all aspects of social care law including the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the Care Act 2014 and associated regulations.

We are keen advocates of an up-front service to our clients – we will tell you when to challenge the regulator or commissioner and when to work with them to address deficiencies.

We represent clients at inquests and in other inquiry environments. We appreciate that reputation and commercial interests are key and will ensure that your interests are fully and properly put before the court or tribunal.

Our health and social care team includes experts in mental health, mental capacity law, information law, primary care contracting, community law and court of protection practice and procedure, including deprivation of liberty and the forthcoming Liberty Protection Safeguards.

Employment and HR law

Our team is renowned for its ability to deliver clear, pragmatic and expert solutions to deal with HR related issues. This includes employment claims and disputes, executive performance and terminations, pensions, performance and disciplinary issues, reorganisation and redundancy programmes, TUPE, whistleblowing and discrimination matters, as well as issues that arise out of serious untoward incidents.

Commercial property

The team assists with commercial advice on a range of property matters. These include landlord and tenant issues, conditional sale and option agreements, estate management, landlord and tenant disputes, development and construction agreements, and refinancing.

Corporate and commercial

we regularly advise on matters such as: the structuring and registration of new provider companies; contracting and supply chain matters; structuring successful tenders; the sale and purchase of care homes, nursing homes and other social care businesses; and banking and finance law. We are highly experienced in advising on joint ventures and collaborations between social care organisations and those in other sectors. Our intellectual property lawyers advise on the protection and exploitation of intellectual property (eg registration of trade marks).

Charity law

Our specialist charity lawyers regularly advise social care organisations that are registered charities. We provide specialist advice on selecting corporate forms (e.g. charitable incorporated organisations and companies limited by guarantee), charity mergers, governance structures, and compliance with charity law.

Dispute resolution

We provide support for when things go wrong. This includes advising social care organisations on complex commercial disputes, and any aspect of litigation including challenging defective procurement processes (formally and informally). We pursue Alternative Dispute Resolution including mediation where it is in the client’s interests to do so.

I have worked with Hempsons for many years and continue to be impressed by their extensive knowledge and expertise in the sector. They have a friendly and approachable way of working and always provide really practical no nonsense advice, consistently achieve positive outcomes. Definitely my go to law firm, would highly recommend.

Andrew Luckett, Chief Executive
New Concept Care and Nursing