Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Adult at risk
- A person aged 18 or over with care and support needs who is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect and cannot protect themselves because of those needs.
- Best interests
- A decision made for someone who cannot decide for themselves, choosing the option that is best for them.
- Caldicott principles
- A set of standards for handling people's confidential health and care information safely and appropriately, sharing it only when there is a proper reason.
- Care Act 2014
- The main law setting out local authorities' duties to assess and meet adults' care and support needs and to protect adults at risk of abuse or neglect.
- Care and Support Statutory Guidance
- The official Government guidance that explains how organisations must apply the duties in the Care Act 2014.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Clinical governance
- The system through which an organisation monitors and improves the quality and safety of the care it provides.
- Coercive control
- A pattern of threatening, controlling or intimidating behaviour used to dominate another person, often within a relationship.
- Contemporaneous record
- A note written at the time of, or immediately after, the event it describes, so it is accurate and reliable.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law that governs how personal information must be handled, working alongside the UK General Data Protection Regulation.
- Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)
- The legal framework under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for lawfully restricting the freedom of a person who lacks capacity to consent to their care, to keep them safe.
- Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
- The public body that carries out criminal-records checks and decides whether a person is barred from working with vulnerable people; a DBS check shows whether someone is suitable for such work.
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021
- The law that defines domestic abuse and strengthens protection for people who experience it.
- 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.
- Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- The body that registers and regulates a range of health and care professionals, such as physiotherapists and paramedics.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations that set out the fundamental standards providers must meet to deliver regulated care, enforced by the Care Quality Commission.
- Honour-based abuse
- Abuse committed to protect or defend the supposed honour of a family or community, which can include violence and coercion.
- Independent Mental Capacity Advocate
- A trained advocate who supports and represents a person who lacks capacity and has no one else suitable to speak for them on certain decisions.
- Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
- The local-authority officer who oversees and advises on allegations of abuse made against people who work with vulnerable groups.
- Locum
- A clinician who works temporarily to cover for another, for example a stand-in doctor or nurse.
- Making Safeguarding Personal
- An approach that puts the adult at risk at the centre of safeguarding, focusing on the outcomes they want rather than a set process.
- 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.
- Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 (Seni's Law)
- The law that increases oversight and accountability for the use of force, such as restraint, on people in mental health units.
- Modern Slavery Act 2015
- The law that tackles slavery, servitude, forced labour and human trafficking and protects victims.
- 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.
- Practising privileges
- An arrangement that lets a self-employed clinician, such as a consultant, work in an independent hospital without being directly employed by it.
- Prevent
- The Government's strategy to safeguard people from being drawn into terrorism.
- 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.
- Restrictive practice
- Any action that limits a person's movement, freedom or rights, such as restraint, which must only be used as a last resort.
- Safeguarding
- Protecting people's health, wellbeing and rights and keeping them safe from abuse, harm or neglect.
- Safeguarding Adults Review
- A review carried out when an adult at risk dies or is seriously harmed and abuse or neglect is suspected, to learn lessons and improve practice.
- Safeguarding partnership
- The local arrangement, led by the council, police and health bodies, that coordinates how adults at risk are protected in an area.
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
- The law that created the barring system and the duty to refer people who have harmed or may harm vulnerable groups to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
- Section 42 enquiry
- The duty on a local authority, under section 42 of the Care Act 2014, to look into a situation where an adult with care and support needs may be at risk of, or experiencing, abuse or neglect.
- 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).
- Statutory gateway
- A legal basis that permits or requires the sharing of personal information in a particular situation, such as to protect someone from harm.
- Supervisory body
- The authority responsible for considering and authorising a deprivation of liberty under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.