Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Action Fraud
- The United Kingdom's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
- Adverse event
- Any unexpected or unwanted occurrence linked to a treatment that harms, or could harm, a patient.
- Anonymous concern
- A concern raised without the person giving their name, so the organisation does not know who raised it.
- Botulinum toxin
- A prescription-only injectable medicine, often known by brand names, used to relax muscles and reduce wrinkles.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009
- The rules setting out who must register with the regulator and what they must report and do.
- Confidential concern
- A concern where the organisation knows who raised it but keeps their identity private as far as it lawfully can.
- Cooling-off period
- A gap between agreeing to a treatment and having it, giving the patient time to reflect and decide freely.
- Cosmetic Practice Standards Authority (CPSA)
- The body that sets the clinical standards used by the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners for non-surgical cosmetic treatments.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The United Kingdom's main data-protection law, which sits alongside the UK General Data Protection Regulation.
- Decontamination
- The combined process of cleaning, disinfecting and, where needed, sterilising equipment so it is safe to reuse.
- Dermal filler
- An injectable gel used to smooth lines or add volume to the face.
- Detriment
- Any unfavourable treatment of a person, such as being denied shifts, disciplined, excluded or bullied, because they raised a concern.
- Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
- A criminal-records check showing whether a person is suitable to work with patients 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.
- Employment Rights Act 1996
- The main law on employment rights, which (in Part IVA) gives workers protection when they make a protected disclosure.
- Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013
- An Act that updated whistleblowing law, including the requirement that a disclosure be in the public interest.
- Equality Act 2010
- The law protecting people from discrimination based on characteristics such as age, disability, sex or race.
- Freedom to Speak Up contact
- A named person whose job is to receive concerns, give confidential advice and support staff to speak up.
- General Dental Council (GDC)
- The body that registers and regulates dentists and other dental care professionals in the United Kingdom.
- General Medical Council (GMC)
- The body that registers and regulates doctors in the United Kingdom.
- General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
- The body that registers and regulates pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies in Great Britain.
- Gross misconduct
- Serious wrongdoing at work that can justify dismissal without notice.
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
- The main law requiring employers to protect the health and safety of staff and others affected by their work.
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
- The national regulator responsible for workplace health and safety in Great Britain.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting the fundamental standards that registered health and care providers must meet.
- Indemnity
- Insurance or cover that pays out if a patient is harmed and makes a claim against a practitioner.
- Infection prevention and control (IPC)
- The measures used to stop infection spreading between patients, staff and visitors.
- Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
- The United Kingdom's independent regulator for data protection and information rights.
- Information governance
- The framework for handling people's personal and health information legally, securely and appropriately.
- Informed consent
- Agreement to treatment given freely after the risks, benefits and alternatives have been clearly explained.
- Intense pulsed light (IPL)
- A light-based treatment used on the skin, for example to remove hair or treat pigmentation.
- Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP)
- A voluntary register and standards body for practitioners who provide non-surgical cosmetic treatments.
- Locum
- A practitioner who stands in temporarily to cover a role, rather than being a permanent member of staff.
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- The United Kingdom regulator for the safety of medicines and medical devices.
- Near miss
- An event that could have caused harm but did not, by chance or because it was caught in time.
- Nominated Individual
- The senior person responsible to the regulator for supervising how a service is provided.
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- The body that registers and regulates nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom.
- Prescribed person
- A regulator or body named in law to whom a worker may make a protected disclosure about matters within that body's remit.
- Prescription-only medicine (POM)
- A medicine that may lawfully be supplied or given only on the instruction of an appropriate prescriber, for example botulinum toxin.
- Protect
- An independent charity (formerly Public Concern at Work) that gives free, confidential advice to people thinking about whistleblowing.
- Protected disclosure
- A qualifying disclosure made in the public interest that the law shields from dismissal and detriment.
- Public interest
- A concern that affects others, such as patients or the public, rather than only the person's own private employment position.
- Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014
- The order listing the regulators and bodies to whom a worker can make a protected disclosure.
- Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998
- The Act that introduced legal protection for workers who blow the whistle on wrongdoing.
- Qualifying disclosure
- A disclosure of information that the person reasonably believes shows wrongdoing and is made in the public interest.
- 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.
- Remote prescribing
- Prescribing a medicine without an adequate in-person or otherwise robust assessment of the patient, which is unsafe for medicines such as botulinum toxin.
- Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)
- The law requiring certain workplace injuries, diseases and dangerous events to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive.
- Retention schedule
- A plan setting out how long different records are kept before they are securely destroyed.
- Safeguarding
- Protecting people's health, wellbeing and rights and keeping them safe from abuse, harm or neglect.
- Scope of practice
- The range of treatments and tasks a practitioner is trained, competent and authorised to carry out.
- Sharps
- Needles, blades, cannulas and other items that can cut or puncture the skin.
- 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).
- Subject of the concern
- The person, team or organisation that a whistleblowing concern is about.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The United Kingdom'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.
- Worker
- A broad legal category that, for whistleblowing, covers employees, agency staff, certain self-employed people, trainees and others.
- Yellow Card scheme
- The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's system for reporting problems with medicines or medical devices.