Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Asynchronous review
- Looking at photographs and information sent in advance, rather than talking to the patient live.
- Compression
- The way messaging apps shrink photographs to send them, which throws away the fine detail a clinician needs.
- Conversion
- Changing a remote appointment into a face-to-face one because it cannot safely be done remotely.
- Data processing agreement
- A written contract with a company that handles patient data on our behalf, such as a video platform.
- Drug eruption
- A rash caused by a medicine, which can occasionally be serious and needs urgent assessment.
- Erythroderma
- Widespread redness of most of the skin, which can make a patient seriously unwell.
- Induration
- Firmness or hardness felt in the skin, which can only be assessed by touch.
- Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
- The UK regulator for data protection, to which serious data breaches must be reported.
- Raking light
- Shining light across the skin at an angle to show up texture and raised areas.
- Safety netting
- Telling a patient exactly what changes should make them come back, and how to get in touch.
- Special category data
- Sensitive personal information, including anything about health, which the law protects more strictly.
- Triage
- Deciding how urgent something is and where the patient should be seen, rather than diagnosing it.