Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Adverse event
- Any unexpected or unwanted occurrence linked to a treatment that harms, or could harm, a patient.
- Adverse incident
- Any event that caused, or could have caused, harm to a patient, member of staff, visitor or the public, or loss or damage to the organisation.
- Anaphylaxis
- A severe, life-threatening allergic reaction needing immediate emergency treatment.
- Blood-borne virus
- An infection such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV that can be passed on through blood.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009
- The rules that set out the events a registered provider must formally notify to the Care Quality Commission, such as a death or serious injury.
- Contemporaneous
- Written down at the time something happens, or as soon as possible afterwards, so the record is accurate.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a person and their family when something goes wrong with their care.
- Harm grading
- Rating both the actual harm an incident caused and the worst harm it could realistically have caused, to decide how thoroughly to investigate.
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
- The national body responsible for regulating and enforcing workplace health and safety in Great Britain.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting the fundamental standards that providers of regulated care must meet, including safe care, good governance and the duty of candour.
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- The body that regulates medicines and medical devices in the United Kingdom and runs the Yellow Card scheme.
- Near miss
- An event that could have caused harm but did not, by chance or because it was caught in time. Also called a 'good catch'.
- Nominated Individual
- The senior person responsible to the regulator for supervising how a service is provided.
- Notifiable safety incident
- An unintended incident during care that results in moderate or greater harm, prolonged psychological harm or death, which triggers the duty of candour.
- Patient safety incident
- Any unintended or unexpected event in care that did, or could have, harmed one or more patients.
- PECR
- The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, the rules covering marketing by phone, email and text and the use of cookies.
- Quarantine (of equipment or products)
- Setting an item aside and out of use so it cannot be touched, cleaned or repaired until it has been investigated.
- Registered Manager
- The person registered with the regulator as responsible for the day-to-day running of a service.
- 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.
- Risk register
- A central record of the risks a service faces, who owns each one and what is being done to control it.
- Root cause analysis (RCA)
- A structured investigation of a serious event that looks for the underlying causes, not just the immediate one.
- Safeguarding
- Protecting people's health, wellbeing and rights and keeping them safe from abuse, harm or neglect.
- Second victim
- A member of staff who is themselves distressed or affected after being involved in a patient safety incident or error.
- Sharps
- Needles, blades and other items that can cut or puncture the skin.
- Special category data
- Sensitive personal information, such as health records, that data-protection law gives extra protection.
- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
- A document setting out the agreed step-by-step way to carry out a specific task safely and consistently.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The United Kingdom's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Vascular occlusion
- A blockage of a blood vessel, a serious complication that can occur with certain aesthetic injectable treatments.
- Yellow Card scheme
- The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's system for reporting suspected side effects of medicines and problems with medical devices.