Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Accountable Officer (Controlled Drugs)
- The senior person legally responsible for the safe management and use of Controlled Drugs in an organisation.
- Adverse effect
- An unwanted or harmful reaction caused by a medicine.
- Atomoxetine
- A non-stimulant medicine used to treat ADHD.
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- A condition affecting attention, activity levels and impulse control, often treated with medicines and other support.
- Blood pressure (BP)
- The pressure of blood in the arteries, checked to monitor heart and circulation health.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Centile chart
- A growth chart that compares a child's height or weight against the typical range for their age.
- Contraindication
- A reason why a particular medicine or treatment should not be used in a specific person.
- Controlled Drug (CD)
- A medicine whose supply, storage and records are tightly restricted by law because of its potential for misuse.
- Controlled Drug register
- The legally required record of every Controlled Drug received, supplied or destroyed, with a running balance.
- Controlled Drugs (Supervision of Management and Use) Regulations 2013
- The law requiring organisations to manage and monitor Controlled Drugs safely and to report concerns.
- Decision support
- Built-in prompts and checks in a prescribing system that help clinicians prescribe safely.
- Dexamfetamine
- A stimulant Controlled Drug used to treat ADHD.
- Diversion
- The illegal movement of a prescribed medicine away from the patient it was intended for, for example through selling or sharing.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a person and their family when something goes wrong with their care.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG)
- A simple test that records the heart's electrical activity to check for heart problems.
- Formulary
- An approved list of medicines that a service has agreed clinicians may prescribe.
- General Medical Council (GMC)
- The body that registers and regulates doctors in the United Kingdom.
- General practitioner (GP)
- A family doctor who provides general medical care in the community.
- Guanfacine
- A non-stimulant medicine used to treat ADHD.
- Hard-stop
- A built-in block in a computer system that prevents an action from continuing until a required step is completed.
- Hazard
- Anything that has the potential to cause harm.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting out the fundamental standards that registered care providers must meet, enforced by the Care Quality Commission.
- Human Medicines Regulations 2012
- The main law governing how medicines are licensed, prescribed and supplied in the United Kingdom.
- Indemnity
- Insurance or cover that protects a clinician and patients against the cost of claims arising from their practice.
- Information governance
- The framework for handling people's personal and health information legally, securely and appropriately.
- Lisdexamfetamine
- A stimulant Controlled Drug used to treat ADHD.
- Local Intelligence Network (LIN)
- A regional group that shares information to monitor and prevent the misuse of Controlled Drugs.
- Locum
- A clinician who works temporarily to cover for, or add to, a service's regular staff.
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- The United Kingdom body that regulates medicines and medical devices and monitors their safety.
- Medicines optimisation
- Making sure each patient gets the best possible outcomes from their medicines, safely and with the least waste.
- Medicines reconciliation
- Checking and confirming the full, accurate list of medicines a person is taking, especially when their care moves between settings.
- Methylphenidate
- A stimulant Controlled Drug commonly used to treat ADHD.
- Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001
- The laws controlling dangerous or harmful drugs and setting out how Controlled Drugs may lawfully be handled.
- Misuse of Drugs (Safe Custody) Regulations 1973
- The law setting out how Controlled Drugs must be securely stored, for example in an approved cabinet.
- Modified release
- A medicine formulation designed to release the drug slowly over time rather than all at once.
- Monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI)
- A type of medicine, usually for depression, that can dangerously interact with some ADHD medicines.
- Near miss
- An event that could have caused harm but did not, by chance or because it was caught in time.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
- The body that produces evidence-based guidance on treatments and care for use across health and social care.
- Nominated Individual
- The senior person responsible to the regulator for supervising how a service is provided.
- Non-medical prescriber
- A trained health professional, such as a nurse or pharmacist, who is qualified to prescribe medicines.
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- The body that registers and regulates nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom.
- Patient Group Direction (PGD)
- A written instruction letting named staff supply or give a medicine without an individual prescription.
- Prescription-only medicine (POM)
- A medicine that may lawfully be supplied only on the instruction of an appropriate prescriber.
- Proforma
- A standard form used to make sure all required information is recorded consistently.
- 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.
- Residual risk
- The level of risk that remains after existing controls and safeguards have been applied.
- Risk assessment
- A structured check identifying what could cause harm and what is being done to prevent it.
- Royal Pharmaceutical Society
- The professional body for pharmacists in Great Britain, which issues guidance on the safe handling of medicines.
- Safe Custody-compliant cabinet
- A storage cabinet that meets the legal security standards for keeping Controlled Drugs.
- Safeguarding
- Protecting people's health, wellbeing and rights and keeping them safe from abuse, harm or neglect.
- Schedule 2
- A legal category of Controlled Drugs subject to strict requirements for prescribing, storage and record-keeping.
- Shared care
- An arrangement where responsibility for a patient's treatment and monitoring is shared between a specialist service and their general practitioner.
- 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).
- So far as is reasonably practicable
- Doing everything sensible to reduce a risk, weighing the effort and cost against how much harm it would prevent.
- Standard operating procedure (SOP)
- A written step-by-step instruction setting out how a particular task must be carried out.
- Stimulant
- A type of medicine that increases activity in the brain and is commonly used to treat ADHD.
- Titration
- Gradually adjusting a medicine dose up or down to find the level that works best with the fewest side effects.