Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Abuse and neglect
- Forms of maltreatment of a child, including physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect, and harms arising outside the home such as exploitation and online harm.
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- A neurodevelopmental condition affecting attention, impulse control and activity levels that the clinic assesses and treats.
- Best interests
- A decision made for someone who cannot decide for themselves, choosing the option that is best for them.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Child criminal exploitation
- Coercing or manipulating a child into committing crimes, often involving drugs, for someone else's gain.
- Child protection
- The activity undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.
- Contemporaneous notes
- A written record made at the time of an event, or as soon as possible afterwards, so it is accurate and reliable.
- Controlled drug
- A medicine whose supply, storage and records are tightly restricted by law because of its potential for misuse.
- County lines
- Criminal networks that use children to move and sell drugs between areas, often by phone lines, exploiting and controlling them.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law governing how organisations collect, store and use people's personal information.
- Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO)
- The named person or people with lead responsibility for safeguarding in the service, who receive concerns and decide on referrals.
- Diagnostic overshadowing
- When a person's symptoms are wrongly blamed on a known condition, so another problem such as abuse or a co-occurring illness is missed.
- Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
- A criminal-records check showing whether a person is suitable to work with children or vulnerable people.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a person and their family when something goes wrong with their care.
- Enhanced DBS check with barred-list information
- The most thorough criminal-records check, which also confirms whether a person is barred from working with children.
- Fabricated or induced illness (FII)
- A form of abuse in which a carer exaggerates, invents or causes illness in a child.
- Fundamental standards
- The minimum standards of safety and quality below which care must never fall.
- Gillick competence and the Fraser guidelines
- The test used to decide whether a child under 16 understands enough to consent to treatment or information sharing without a parent.
- Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- The body that registers and regulates a range of health professionals, including practitioner psychologists, in the UK.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting out the fundamental standards that providers of regulated health and care must meet.
- General Medical Council (GMC)
- The body that registers and regulates doctors in the UK.
- General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
- The body that registers and regulates pharmacists and pharmacies in Great Britain.
- Informed consent
- Agreement to treatment given freely after the risks, benefits and alternatives have been clearly explained.
- Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
- The council officer who oversees concerns or allegations that an adult who works with children may pose a risk to them.
- Locum
- A clinician who stands in temporarily for another, for example to cover absence or vacancies.
- Mental Capacity Act 2005
- The law that protects and supports people who may be unable to make particular decisions for themselves.
- Multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH)
- A single team where the council, police and health and other services share information and decide how to respond to safeguarding concerns.
- Nominated Individual
- The senior person responsible to the regulator for supervising how a service is provided.
- NSPCC
- The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a charity that runs a helpline and supports child protection.
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- The body that registers and regulates nurses and midwives in the UK.
- Radicalisation
- The process by which a person comes to support terrorism or extremist views, from which children may need protecting.
- Records Management Code of Practice
- National guidance on how long health and care records should be kept and how they should be managed.
- Regulated activity
- A type of care or treatment the law requires a provider to register with the regulator to deliver, or work that brings someone into regular contact with children.
- Registered Manager
- The person registered with the regulator as responsible for the day-to-day running of a service.
- 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.
- Significant harm
- The level of harm to a child that justifies compulsory intervention by the state under the Children Act 1989.
- Single assessment framework
- The structure the regulator uses to judge a service, built around quality statements and five key questions (safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led).
- Statement of Purpose
- A required document describing who a service is, what it does and where, shared with the regulator.
- Statutory notification
- An incident a provider is legally required to report to the regulator, such as a death or serious injury.
- Stimulant diversion
- When stimulant medication prescribed for one person is misused, sold or given to someone else.
- Titration
- The process of carefully adjusting a medicine's dose to find the level that works best with the fewest side effects.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Unique patient identifier
- The individual reference number used to identify a patient correctly across their health records.
- Whistleblowing (speaking up)
- Raising a concern about wrongdoing, risk or malpractice at work, protected by law.
- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023
- The government's statutory guidance setting out how organisations should work together to keep children safe.