Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Adult at risk
- An adult who needs care and support and may be unable to protect themselves from abuse, harm or neglect.
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- A condition affecting attention, activity levels and impulse control that often begins in childhood and can continue into adulthood.
- Best interests
- A decision made for someone who cannot decide for themselves, choosing the option that is best for them.
- British National Formulary (BNF)
- The standard reference guide listing the medicines used in the United Kingdom, with doses, side effects and prescribing advice.
- Caldicott Guardian
- The senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of people's health and care information.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Chaperone
- A trained person present during an intimate examination to support and protect the patient and the clinician.
- Channel panel
- A local multi-agency group that supports people identified as at risk of being drawn into terrorism under the Prevent programme.
- Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
- Specialist services that assess and treat mental health problems in children and young people.
- Child in need (CIN) plan
- A support plan for a child who needs extra help from services to achieve a reasonable standard of health or development.
- Child protection (CP) plan
- A formal plan setting out how a child judged to be at risk of significant harm will be kept safe.
- Coercive control
- A pattern of threatening, controlling or intimidating behaviour used by one person to dominate another.
- Collateral history
- Information about a patient gathered from other people, such as parents, carers or schools, to support an assessment.
- Controlled drug
- A medicine whose supply, storage and records are tightly restricted by law because of its potential for misuse.
- Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer
- The senior person responsible for the safe management and governance of controlled drugs within an organisation.
- Controlled drugs intelligence network
- A local arrangement through which organisations share concerns and information about the misuse or diversion of controlled drugs.
- Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults, version 5 (DIVA-5)
- A structured interview tool used to help diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults.
- Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
- A criminal-records check showing whether a person is suitable to work with patients or vulnerable people.
- Diversion
- When prescribed medicines are passed on, sold or used by someone other than the patient they were intended for.
- Fabricated or induced illness (FII)
- A form of abuse in which a carer exaggerates, invents or causes symptoms of illness in a child or other person.
- Freedom to Speak Up
- Arrangements that make it easier and safer for staff to raise concerns about safety, quality or wrongdoing at work.
- 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.
- Lisdexamfetamine, methylphenidate and dexamfetamine
- Stimulant medicines used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; all are controlled drugs.
- Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
- The council officer who oversees concerns or allegations that an adult working with children may have harmed a child.
- 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.
- Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
- A team bringing together agencies such as social care, the police and health to share information and respond to safeguarding concerns.
- Multidisciplinary team (MDT)
- A group of professionals from different fields who work together to plan and review a patient's care.
- 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.
- Near miss
- An event that could have caused harm but did not, by chance or because it was caught in time.
- NICE guideline NG87
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on diagnosing and managing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- Nominated Individual
- The senior person responsible to the regulator for supervising how a service is provided.
- Prevent duty
- The legal duty on certain organisations to help stop people being drawn into terrorism.
- QbTest
- A computer-based test that measures attention, impulsiveness and activity to help assess attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- Regulated activity
- A type of care or treatment the law requires a provider to register with the regulator to deliver.
- Registered Manager
- The person registered with the regulator as responsible for the day-to-day running of a service.
- Residual risk
- The level of risk that remains after the existing controls have been put in place.
- 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.
- Schedule 2 controlled drugs
- A category of controlled drugs, including many stimulants, subject to strict requirements for prescribing, storage and record-keeping.
- Shared-care agreement
- A written agreement setting out how responsibility for a patient's care and prescribing is divided between a specialist and the patient's 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).
- Telehealth
- The delivery of healthcare by telephone, video or other remote technology rather than in person.
- Titration
- The process of gradually adjusting a medicine's dose to find the amount that works best with the fewest side effects.
- Transition
- The planned move of a young person from children's services to adult services as they grow older.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Whistleblowing (speaking up)
- Raising a concern about wrongdoing, risk or malpractice at work, protected by law.