Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Accessible Information Standard (DCB1605)
- A standard requiring services to identify, record and meet the communication and information needs of people with a disability or sensory loss.
- Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS)
- One of the contract types under which a provider may be commissioned to deliver primary medical (GP) services.
- Best interests
- A decision made for someone who cannot decide for themselves, choosing the option that is best for them.
- 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 which serious incidents and events a registered provider must formally notify to the regulator.
- Complainant
- The patient, or a person acting on their behalf with proper authority, who makes a complaint.
- Complaints Manager
- The named person, usually the Practice Manager, responsible for the day-to-day handling and recording of complaints.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law that sits alongside the UK GDPR and governs how personal information must be handled.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a person and their family when something goes wrong with their care.
- Equality Act 2010
- The law protecting people from discrimination based on characteristics such as age, disability, sex or race.
- Freedom of Information Act 2000
- The law giving people the right to ask public bodies for recorded information they hold.
- Friends and Family Test
- A simple feedback tool that asks patients about their experience of a service so it can be improved.
- General Medical Services (GMS)
- The nationally agreed contract type under which many GP practices provide primary medical services.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting out the fundamental standards that registered health and care providers must meet, including handling complaints and the duty of candour.
- Informed consent
- Agreement to something given freely after the relevant information has been clearly explained.
- Learn from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service
- A national service for recording patient safety events so that learning can be shared and care made safer.
- Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009
- The law that sets the statutory process providers must follow for handling health and social care complaints in England.
- 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.
- Notifiable safety incident
- An unexpected incident during care that has caused, or could cause, significant harm and which triggers the duty of candour.
- Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)
- The independent body that reviews unresolved complaints about health services in England once a provider's own process is complete.
- Patient Participation Group (PPG)
- A group of patients who work with a practice to help review and improve its services.
- Personal Medical Services (PMS)
- A locally agreed contract type under which a practice may provide primary medical services.
- Primary medical services contract
- The agreement under which a GP practice is commissioned to provide general practice care (for example a GMS, PMS or APMS contract).
- Records Management Code of Practice
- National guidance setting out how long health and care records should be kept and how they should be managed.
- Registered provider
- The organisation or person registered with the regulator as legally accountable for the service.
- Regulated activity
- A type of care or treatment the law requires a provider to register with the regulator to deliver.
- Responsible Body
- Under the 2009 complaints regulations, the organisation responsible for handling a particular complaint - usually the practice itself.
- Responsible Person
- The senior person, usually a GP partner or registered provider, accountable for complying with the complaints regulations and for ensuring lessons are learned.
- Significant event analysis
- A structured team review of an event in order to understand what happened and improve future care.
- 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).
- Triangulation
- Comparing information from several sources, such as complaints, incidents and feedback, to get a fuller picture of quality and risk.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Vexatious complaint
- A complaint pursued in an abusive, unreasonable or persistent way that places an unjustified burden on the service.