Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
- A neurodevelopmental condition, present from childhood, that involves ongoing problems with attention and/or being overactive and impulsive enough to affect everyday life.
- Adverse event
- Any unexpected or unwanted occurrence linked to a treatment that harms, or could harm, a patient.
- ASRS (Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale)
- A short questionnaire that adults complete about their own symptoms to help screen for ADHD; it supports but does not replace a clinical assessment.
- Best interests
- A decision made for someone who cannot decide for themselves, choosing the option that is best for them.
- Caldicott Guardian
- The senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of people's health and care information.
- Care Act 2014
- The main law setting out councils' duties to assess and meet adults' care and support needs, including safeguarding adults at risk.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004
- The main laws setting out how children's welfare must be protected and how agencies work together to keep children safe.
- Chronicity
- Whether symptoms have been present over a long and continuous period rather than just recently.
- Collateral history
- Information about a person's symptoms and difficulties gathered from someone else who knows them, such as a parent, partner or school, or from older records.
- Comorbidity
- The presence of one or more additional conditions alongside the main one being assessed or treated.
- Conners rating scales
- A widely used set of questionnaires, often completed by parents or teachers, that help measure ADHD-related behaviours.
- Continuous performance test
- A computer-based task that measures attention and impulsivity; it can support an assessment but cannot diagnose ADHD on its own.
- Controlled drug
- A medicine whose supply, storage and records are tightly restricted by law because of its potential for misuse.
- Controlled Drugs (Supervision of Management and Use) Regulations 2013
- The law setting out how organisations must oversee and monitor the safe handling of controlled drugs.
- Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer
- The senior person responsible for the safe management, recording and oversight of controlled drugs within an organisation.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law that controls how personal information must be handled, sitting alongside the UK General Data Protection Regulation.
- Differential diagnosis
- The process of weighing up other conditions that could explain a person's symptoms before settling on a diagnosis.
- DIVA-5 (Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults)
- A structured interview used to assess ADHD symptoms in adults against recognised diagnostic criteria.
- Diversion (of medicines)
- When prescribed medicines are passed on, sold or used by someone other than the intended patient.
- DSM-5-TR
- The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision: an internationally used handbook that sets out the criteria for diagnosing mental health conditions, including ADHD.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a person and their family when something goes wrong with their care.
- Equality Act 2010
- The law protecting people from discrimination based on characteristics such as age, disability, sex or race.
- Functional impairment
- The degree to which symptoms get in the way of everyday activities such as study, work, relationships or managing money.
- Fundamental standards
- The minimum standards of safety and quality below which care must never fall.
- General practitioner (GP)
- A doctor who provides general medical care in the community and often coordinates a person's overall healthcare.
- Gillick competence
- A test of whether a child under 16 has enough understanding and maturity to consent to their own treatment.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting out the fundamental standards that providers of regulated care must meet, enforced by the Care Quality Commission.
- ICD-11
- The International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision: the World Health Organization's internationally used system for classifying and diagnosing illnesses, including ADHD.
- Informant
- A person who provides information about someone else's symptoms or history to help with an assessment.
- Information governance
- The framework for handling people's personal and health information legally, securely and appropriately.
- Informed consent
- Agreement to assessment or treatment given freely after the risks, benefits and alternatives have been clearly explained.
- Mental capacity
- Whether a person can understand and make a particular decision for themselves at the time it needs to be made.
- Mental Capacity Act 2005
- The law that protects and supports people who may be unable to make particular decisions for themselves.
- Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001
- The laws that control the supply, possession, storage and recording of controlled drugs.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
- The national body that produces evidence-based guidance on best practice in health and care.
- Near miss
- An event that could have caused harm but did not, by chance or because it was caught in time.
- Neurodevelopmental condition
- A condition that affects how the brain develops and works from an early age, influencing attention, behaviour, learning or social interaction.
- NICE Guideline NG87
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on diagnosing and managing ADHD.
- Nominated Individual
- The senior person responsible to the regulator for supervising how a service is provided.
- Parental responsibility
- The legal rights and duties a parent or guardian has to make decisions about a child, including consenting to assessment or treatment.
- Pervasiveness
- Whether symptoms appear across more than one setting, such as both at home and at school or work, rather than in only one place.
- Psychosocial history
- A summary of a person's psychological background and social circumstances, such as family, relationships, education and work.
- QbTest
- A specific computer-based test of attention, impulsivity and activity used to support, but not replace, a clinical ADHD assessment.
- Reasonable adjustments
- Changes a service makes so that disabled people, or those with particular needs, can use it on an equal footing.
- Registered Manager
- The person registered with the regulator as responsible for the day-to-day running of a service.
- Regulated activity
- A type of care or treatment the law requires a provider to register with the regulator to deliver.
- Risk assessment
- A structured check identifying what could cause harm and what is being done to prevent it.
- Safeguarding
- Protecting people's health, wellbeing and rights and keeping them safe from abuse, harm or neglect.
- Single assessment framework
- The structure the Care Quality Commission uses to judge a service, built around quality statements and five key questions (safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led).
- Specialist clinician
- A psychiatrist, suitably trained ADHD specialist nurse or other professional with the recognised competence and supervision needed to diagnose ADHD.
- Titration
- The careful process of adjusting a medicine's dose up or down to find the level that works best with the fewest side effects.
- Triage
- An initial sorting of referrals to check they are suitable for the service and to identify anyone needing urgent attention.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023
- The statutory guidance setting out how organisations and agencies should work together to keep children safe.