My name is Louise Woollam, and I’m campaigning for Richard’s Law in honour of my husband, Richard, who has advanced Alzheimer’s.

In 2023, I employed a private carer to help look after Richard at home. She seemed perfect—presented a clean DBS certificate, valid insurance, and told me she’d cared for people with dementia before. I trusted her with everything I hold dear.

Within weeks, she stole my late mother’s engagement ring, a 200-year-old family heirloom, sentimental jewellery from Richard to me, and foreign currency collected over a lifetime of travel and many other items.

I was devastated. But what I learned next horrified me even more.

The woman I’d hired—Rachel Goodman—had already been convicted of stealing from another woman with Alzheimer’s in 2010. Yet I had no way of knowing. Despite this serious conviction, her DBS check came back clean. That’s because in England, unlike Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there is no legal requirement for carers in private homes to be registered, professionally regulated, or subject to enhanced background checks.

Rachel Goodman had a criminal record—but the law protected her, not us.

She has now pleaded guilty in court. But even after this second conviction, she received only a suspended sentence—and nothing prevents her from working in care again.

This isn’t just my story. Countless families in England are unknowingly hiring unregulated carers. In many cases, there is no vetting, no training, and no accountability.

If my husband had lived in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland,  Goodman would never have been legally allowed to care for him. But here in England, the law failed us.  I should have had the right to make an informed choice as to whether I let a convicted criminal in to our home or anywhere near my husband. 

That’s why I am calling on Parliament to adopt Richard’s Law—a simple but vital reform to protect vulnerable adults in their own homes. I propose that all private carers in England must:

1. Be registered with a national care workforce regulator
   Hold a clean enhanced DBS certificate.
2. Complete minimum, accredited training in basic first aid, dementia awareness, safeguarding and food preparation hygiene.
3. Be subject to the same professional conduct rules as carers in other UK nations.
4. Be barred from future care roles if convicted of offences involving abuse, theft, or neglect.
   The current system makes it far too easy for repeat offenders to continue working with vulnerable people. It’s a scandal hiding in plain sight.

Please sign this petition and help me make sure no other family suffers what we did. Vulnerable people deserve protection. Families deserve peace of mind. And carers—true carers—deserve the trust that comes with proper standards and safeguards.

Let’s make Richard’s Law a reality.

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