Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Asynchronous (store-and-forward) consultation
- A consultation where the patient sends information such as text, photos or monitoring readings that a clinician reviews and replies to later, rather than in real time.
- Best interests
- A decision made for someone who cannot decide for themselves, choosing the option that is best for them.
- Caldicott Guardian
- The senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of people's health and care information.
- Caldicott Principles
- A set of standards that guide how organisations should handle confidential patient information safely and appropriately.
- Capacity (mental capacity)
- Whether a person can understand and make a particular decision for themselves at the time it needs to be made.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Common law duty of confidentiality
- The long-standing legal obligation, developed by the courts, to keep information shared in confidence private and to use it only for proper purposes.
- Contemporaneous record
- A note written at the time of, or immediately after, an event so that it accurately reflects what happened.
- Controlled drug
- A medicine whose supply, storage and records are tightly restricted by law because of its potential for misuse.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law that sits alongside the UK General Data Protection Regulation and governs how personal information must be handled.
- Data Protection Officer
- The named person responsible for overseeing how an organisation protects personal data and follows data-protection law.
- General Medical Council (GMC)
- The body that registers and sets standards for doctors practising in the United Kingdom.
- General practitioner (GP)
- A doctor who provides general, ongoing medical care to patients in the community, usually the patient's main, regular doctor.
- Gillick competence
- A test of whether a child under 16 has enough understanding and maturity to consent to a particular treatment without a parent.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations that set out the fundamental standards care providers must meet, including the requirement to obtain consent.
- Human Medicines Regulations 2012
- The main UK law controlling how medicines are licensed, supplied, prescribed and advertised.
- Information governance
- The framework for handling people's personal and health information legally, securely and appropriately.
- Informed consent
- Agreement to treatment given freely after the risks, benefits and alternatives have been clearly explained.
- Lasting power of attorney (attorney)
- A person legally appointed to make certain decisions on behalf of someone who can no longer make those decisions themselves.
- Lawful basis for processing
- The legal reason, set out in data-protection law, that allows an organisation to use someone's personal information.
- Material risk
- A risk that a reasonable patient in the same position, or this particular patient, would regard as important when deciding about treatment.
- Mental Capacity Act 2005
- The law that protects and supports people who may be unable to make particular decisions for themselves.
- Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11
- A Supreme Court ruling that set the standard requiring clinicians to tell patients about the risks that matter to them personally.
- Nominated Individual
- The senior person responsible to the regulator for supervising how a service is provided.
- Parental responsibility
- The legal rights and duties a parent or guardian has, including the right to consent to a child's treatment.
- Prescriber
- A qualified professional, such as a doctor or suitably trained nurse or pharmacist, legally allowed to order medicines for patients.
- Privacy information
- The clear explanation an organisation must give people about how and why their personal data is used.
- 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.
- Safeguarding
- Protecting people's health, wellbeing and rights and keeping them safe from abuse, harm or neglect.
- Safety-netting
- Clear advice given to a patient on what to look out for and who to contact if their condition does not improve or gets worse.
- 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).
- Telehealth (remote consultation)
- Health care delivered at a distance using technology such as video, telephone or online messaging instead of meeting in the same room.
- Triage
- The process of quickly assessing patients to decide how urgent their need is and what care they should receive.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Valid consent
- Agreement to care that is given voluntarily, by a person with capacity, and based on enough clear information to make the decision.