Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Accessible Information Standard
- A standard requiring health and care services to give people information, and communication support, in a way they can understand.
- Anorexia nervosa
- An eating disorder in which a person severely limits how much they eat, often through an intense fear of gaining weight.
- Best interests
- A decision made for someone who cannot decide for themselves, choosing the option that is best for them.
- Binge Eating Scale (BES)
- A validated questionnaire that measures how severe a person's binge-eating behaviour is.
- Binge eating disorder (BED)
- An eating disorder in which a person regularly eats large amounts of food while feeling a loss of control.
- Body mass index (BMI)
- A measure of body weight relative to height, used to estimate whether a person is underweight, a healthy weight or overweight.
- Bulimia nervosa
- An eating disorder marked by cycles of overeating followed by behaviours such as vomiting or excessive exercise to prevent weight gain.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Compensatory behaviour
- Actions taken to undo eating, such as vomiting, laxative use or excessive exercise.
- Contraindication
- A reason why a particular treatment should not be given because it could be harmful.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law that controls how personal information is used, sitting alongside the UK GDPR.
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR)
- A widely used international manual that describes and classifies mental health conditions.
- Disordered eating
- Irregular eating behaviours, such as bingeing, restricting or purging, that may not meet the full criteria for a diagnosed eating disorder.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a person and their family when something goes wrong with their care.
- Eating disorder (ED)
- A diagnosable mental health condition involving an unhealthy relationship with food, eating or body weight.
- Emergency department
- The hospital department that treats serious or life-threatening illness and injury, also known as accident and emergency.
- Equality Act 2010
- The law protecting people from discrimination based on characteristics such as age, disability, sex or race.
- European Medicines Agency (EMA)
- The agency that evaluates and supervises medicines across the European Union.
- Fundamental standards
- The minimum standards of safety and quality below which care must never fall.
- General Medical Council (GMC)
- The body that registers doctors in the UK and sets the standards they must meet, including Good Medical Practice.
- General practitioner (GP)
- A family doctor who provides general medical care in the community.
- Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale
- A short validated questionnaire used to measure the severity of a person's anxiety symptoms.
- GIP/GLP-1 agonist
- A medicine that acts on two appetite-regulating hormones (GIP and GLP-1) to reduce appetite and support weight loss.
- Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist
- A type of medicine that mimics a natural gut hormone to reduce appetite and is used to manage weight and diabetes.
- Informed consent
- Agreement to treatment given freely after the risks, benefits and alternatives have been clearly explained.
- International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision (ICD-11)
- The World Health Organization's global system for naming and classifying diseases and health conditions.
- 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.
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- The UK body that regulates medicines and medical devices to make sure they are safe and effective.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
- The body that produces evidence-based guidance on treatments and care for use across the UK.
- Nominated Individual
- The senior person responsible to the regulator for supervising how a service is provided.
- Non-medical prescriber
- A trained healthcare professional, such as a nurse or pharmacist, who is qualified to prescribe medicines without being a doctor.
- Other specified feeding or eating disorders (OSFED)
- Eating disorders that cause real distress or harm but do not fully match the criteria for conditions such as anorexia or bulimia.
- Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
- A short validated questionnaire used to measure the severity of a person's depression, including a question about self-harm and suicide.
- Pharmacological treatment
- Treatment that uses medicines.
- Pharmacovigilance
- The ongoing monitoring of medicines after they are in use to detect and reduce harmful side effects.
- Purging
- Trying to get rid of food eaten, for example by vomiting or misusing laxatives.
- Red flag
- A warning sign that requires immediate action, escalation or referral.
- Registered Manager
- The person registered with the regulator as responsible for the day-to-day running of a service.
- 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.
- SCOFF questionnaire
- A brief five-question screening tool used to identify possible eating disorders.
- 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).
- Suicidal ideation
- Thoughts about ending one's own life, which can range from fleeting to active and detailed.
- Talking therapies
- Psychological treatments, such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy, delivered through conversation with a trained therapist.
- Titration
- Gradually adjusting the dose of a medicine to find the safest and most effective amount for a person.
- Trauma-informed
- An approach to care that recognises the effects of past trauma and avoids causing further harm.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Validated tool
- A questionnaire or scale that has been scientifically tested to reliably measure what it claims to measure.
- Vital interests
- A legal basis allowing personal information to be shared without consent when it is necessary to protect someone's life.
- Weight stigma
- Negative attitudes, judgements or unfair treatment directed at people because of their weight.