Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Asynchronous consultation
- A consultation where the clinician and patient are not present at the same time, for example an online questionnaire the clinician reviews later.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- 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 is handled.
- Digital identity verification service
- An electronic service that confirms who a person is by checking their documents, a face match and trusted data sources to a set standard.
- 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 doctors in the UK and sets the standards they must follow.
- General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
- The body that registers and regulates pharmacists and pharmacies in Great Britain.
- Good medical practice
- The General Medical Council's core guidance setting out the professional standards expected of doctors.
- Liveness / face-match check
- A check that the person on video is a real, live individual and that their face matches the photo on their identity document.
- Photographic identity document (photo ID)
- A government-issued document showing the holder's photograph, full name and date of birth, such as a passport or photocard driving licence.
- Prescription-only medicine (POM)
- A medicine that may lawfully be supplied only on the instruction of an appropriate prescriber.
- Proxy
- A person acting on a patient's behalf, such as a parent, guardian, carer or someone with the proper authority to act.
- Regulated activity
- A type of care or treatment the law requires a provider to register with the regulator to deliver.
- Registered Manager
- The person registered with the regulator as responsible for the day-to-day running of a service.
- Remote prescribing
- Prescribing a medicine without a face-to-face appointment, for example after a video, telephone or online consultation.
- Risk assessment
- A structured check identifying what could cause harm and what is being done to prevent it.
- Safeguarding
- Protecting people's health, wellbeing and rights and keeping them safe from abuse, harm 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).
- Special category data
- Sensitive personal information, including health data, that data-protection law gives extra protection.
- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
- A written, step-by-step instruction setting out how a particular task is to be carried out consistently and safely.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.