Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
- A condition that begins in childhood involving a lasting pattern of inattention and/or restlessness and impulsiveness that interferes with everyday life.
- Adjunct
- A test or tool used to add supporting information to an assessment, never relied on by itself to make a decision.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Coexisting condition
- A separate condition, such as anxiety, depression or autism, that occurs alongside ADHD and must be identified and addressed.
- Collateral or informant information
- Information about a patient gathered from someone who knows them well, such as a partner, parent or school, to help confirm their history.
- Contemporaneously
- Written down at the time something happens, or as soon as possible afterwards, so the record is accurate.
- Continuous performance test (CPT)
- A computer-based test of attention, impulsiveness and activity (for example QbTest) used only to support an assessment, never to diagnose on its own.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law that governs how organisations collect, store and use people's personal information.
- Differential diagnosis
- An alternative condition that could better explain a person's symptoms and must be considered, and where appropriate ruled out, before diagnosing ADHD.
- DIVA (Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in adults)
- A recognised structured interview used to check an adult's symptoms and history against the criteria for ADHD.
- DNA (did not attend)
- A record that a patient did not come to a booked appointment.
- Domain
- An area of everyday life, such as home, school, work or relationships, in which symptoms may cause difficulty.
- DSM-5
- The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition - a recognised system, published by the American Psychiatric Association, for classifying and diagnosing mental health conditions.
- General practitioner (GP)
- A doctor who provides general medical care in the community and usually coordinates a patient's overall care.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting out the standards providers must meet to be registered with the Care Quality Commission, including person-centred care (Regulation 9) and safe care and treatment (Regulation 12).
- ICD-11
- The International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision - a recognised system, published by the World Health Organization, for classifying and diagnosing health conditions.
- Impairment
- A clinically significant difficulty in everyday functioning - for example in education, work, home life or relationships - caused by a person's symptoms.
- Informed consent
- Agreement to an assessment or treatment given freely after the risks, benefits and alternatives have been clearly explained.
- Mental capacity
- Whether a person is able to 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.
- 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, either 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 skills.
- NICE guideline NG87
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on diagnosing and managing ADHD, which this procedure follows.
- Non-medical prescriber
- A trained health professional who is not a doctor but is qualified to prescribe medicines, such as a nurse or pharmacist prescriber.
- Parental responsibility
- The legal rights and duties a parent or guardian has to make decisions about a child's upbringing and care.
- Person-centred care
- Care that is shaped around the individual's needs, wishes and circumstances rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
- Practitioner psychologist
- A psychologist registered to assess and support people's mental health and behaviour, such as a clinical psychologist.
- QbTest
- A specific brand of computer-based continuous performance test that measures attention, impulsiveness and activity to support an ADHD assessment.
- Registered manager
- The person registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.
- Shared care
- An arrangement where responsibility for a patient's ongoing treatment is shared between the specialist service and another clinician, such as the GP.
- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
- A written, step-by-step instruction that sets out how a particular task or process should be carried out consistently and safely.
- Structured diagnostic interview
- A standardised clinical interview that systematically checks a patient's history against recognised diagnostic criteria.
- Titration
- The careful process of starting a medicine at a low dose and adjusting it gradually to find the most effective and well-tolerated level.
- Triage
- The structured screening of a referral to confirm an assessment is appropriate, set its priority and identify any urgent risk.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Validated rating scale
- A standardised, research-tested questionnaire used to measure the presence and severity of ADHD symptoms; it supports clinical judgement but is not a diagnostic test on its own.