Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Accountable Officer (Controlled Drugs)
- The senior person who is legally responsible for the safe management and use of Controlled Drugs within an organisation.
- Adverse drug reaction
- An unwanted or harmful reaction experienced after taking a medicine at a normal dose.
- Anaphylaxis
- A severe, life-threatening allergic reaction needing immediate emergency treatment.
- Anticoagulant
- A medicine that thins the blood and slows clotting, which needs careful monitoring because of its risks.
- Best interests
- A decision made for someone who cannot decide for themselves, choosing the option that is best for them.
- British Standard BS 2881
- The official British safety standard that a Controlled Drugs storage cabinet must meet.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Central Alerting System (CAS)
- A national service that issues safety alerts and important messages to healthcare providers.
- Cold chain
- Keeping vaccines and certain medicines within a safe temperature range from delivery to use.
- Contemporaneous record
- A record written at the time an event happens, or as soon as possible afterwards, so it is accurate and reliable.
- Contraindicated
- When a treatment or medicine should not be used because it could be harmful in a particular situation.
- Controlled Drug (CD)
- A medicine whose supply, storage and records are tightly restricted by law because of its potential for misuse.
- Controlled Drugs Local Intelligence Network (CDLIN)
- A local network that shares information and concerns about the safe use of Controlled Drugs between organisations.
- Covert administration
- Giving a medicine to someone in a hidden way, such as in food or drink, when they lack the capacity to consent and a best-interests decision allows it.
- Cytotoxic and cytostatic medicines
- Medicines (often used in cancer treatment) that are toxic to cells and must be handled and disposed of with special care.
- Decontamination
- The combined process of cleaning, disinfecting and, where needed, sterilising equipment so it is safe to reuse.
- Denaturing
- Making a Controlled Drug unusable, using an approved kit, before it is thrown away as waste.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a person and their family when something goes wrong with their care.
- General Medical Council (GMC)
- The body that registers and regulates doctors in the United Kingdom.
- General practitioner (GP)
- A doctor based in the community who provides general medical care and coordinates a patient's wider treatment.
- General sale list (GSL) medicine
- A medicine that can be sold to the public without a prescription or pharmacist supervision, such as some everyday painkillers.
- Good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and devices (2021)
- Guidance from the General Medical Council setting out how doctors should prescribe and manage medicines safely.
- Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005
- The law controlling how harmful waste, including certain medicines, must be stored, moved and disposed of.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting the fundamental standards that care providers must meet, enforced by the Care Quality Commission.
- Informed consent
- Agreement to treatment given freely after the risks, benefits and alternatives have been clearly explained.
- Just culture
- An approach to mistakes that focuses on learning and improvement rather than blaming individuals.
- Medicines Administration Record (MAR / e-MAR)
- The paper or electronic record showing which medicines have been given to a patient, when and by whom.
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- The body that regulates medicines and medical devices in the United Kingdom to make sure they are safe and effective.
- Medicines optimisation
- Helping people get the best possible outcomes from their medicines while reducing waste and harm.
- Medicines reconciliation
- Checking and comparing a person's medicines whenever their care moves between settings, to spot and fix any differences.
- 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.
- Misuse of Drugs (Safe Custody) Regulations 1973
- The law setting out how Controlled Drugs must be stored securely, including the standard for storage cabinets.
- Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001
- The law that classifies Controlled Drugs and sets the rules for their supply, storage and record-keeping.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
- The body that produces evidence-based guidance on treatments and care for health and social care services in England.
- 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.
- Non-medical prescriber
- A nurse, pharmacist or other registered professional, who is not a doctor, qualified to prescribe medicines within their competence.
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- The body that registers and regulates nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom.
- Off-label use
- Using a licensed medicine in a way not covered by its official approval, such as for a different condition or age group.
- Patient Group Direction (PGD)
- A written instruction letting named staff supply or give a medicine without an individual prescription.
- Pharmacy (P) medicine
- A medicine that can be bought without a prescription but only from a pharmacy and under a pharmacist's supervision.
- Prescription-only medicine (POM)
- A medicine that may lawfully be supplied only on the instruction of an appropriate prescriber.
- Quarantine (of stock)
- Setting aside medicines that may be unsafe so they cannot be used until they have been checked.
- Records Management Code of Practice
- National guidance on how health and care records should be kept, stored and eventually disposed of.
- 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.
- Shipman Inquiry
- A public inquiry whose findings led to stronger controls over how Controlled Drugs are managed and monitored.
- 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).
- Syringe driver
- A small pump that delivers a measured dose of medicine steadily under the skin over a period of time.
- The Controlled Drugs (Supervision of Management and Use) Regulations 2013
- The law requiring organisations to appoint an Accountable Officer and to monitor the safe use of Controlled Drugs.
- Unlicensed medicine
- A medicine without a UK licence for the use intended, supplied only when a licensed option is not suitable and its use is justified.
- Yellow Card Scheme
- The national system run by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for reporting suspected side effects of medicines and faulty devices.