Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Asynchronous consultation
- A consultation that does not happen in real time, for example where a patient completes an online questionnaire that a clinician reviews later.
- Bariatric
- Relating to the treatment of obesity, including weight loss surgery.
- Best interests
- A decision made for someone who cannot decide for themselves, choosing the option that is best for them.
- Body mass index (BMI)
- A measure of body weight in relation to height, used to help judge whether a person is underweight, a healthy weight, overweight or obese.
- Caldicott Guardian
- The senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of people's health and care information.
- CAP Code
- The UK rulebook for non-broadcast advertising and marketing, which limits how prescription-only medicines may be promoted.
- 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.
- Comorbidity
- An additional health condition a person has at the same time as the main condition being treated.
- Contemporaneous record
- A note written at the time of, or very soon after, the event it describes, so it is accurate and reliable.
- Contraindication
- A specific situation or condition in which a treatment should not be given because it could be harmful.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law that governs how personal information must be handled, working alongside the UK General Data Protection Regulation.
- Data Protection Officer
- The person responsible for overseeing how an organisation protects personal data and follows data protection law.
- Data subject rights
- The legal rights people have over their own personal information, such as the right to see a copy of 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 regulates doctors in the United Kingdom and sets standards for their practice.
- General practitioner (GP)
- A doctor based in the community who provides general medical care and coordinates a person's wider healthcare.
- GLP-1 receptor agonist
- A type of prescription-only medicine used to support weight loss, given as an injection or tablet, which can have side effects affecting the gut, pancreas and gallbladder.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting out the fundamental standards that providers of regulated health and care must meet, including the need for consent.
- Human Medicines Regulations 2012
- The main UK law controlling how medicines are licensed, prescribed, supplied and advertised.
- Hypoglycaemia
- An abnormally low level of sugar in the blood, which can make a person feel unwell and may need urgent treatment.
- Independent prescriber
- A trained health professional, who may not be a doctor, who is legally allowed to assess patients and prescribe medicines.
- Informed consent
- Agreement to treatment given freely after the risks, benefits and alternatives have been clearly explained.
- Material risk
- A risk that a reasonable patient, or this particular patient, would think is important when deciding whether to have a treatment.
- Medullary thyroid carcinoma
- A rare type of thyroid cancer that is a reason not to use certain weight loss medicines.
- 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
- A 2015 court ruling that requires clinicians to tell patients about the risks that matter to them when seeking consent.
- Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2)
- A rare inherited condition that increases the risk of certain tumours and is a reason not to use some weight loss medicines.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
- The body that produces evidence-based guidance on treatments and care for use across health and social care.
- 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.
- Off-label use
- Using a licensed medicine in a way that is different from what its licence officially covers, for example a different condition or dose.
- Prescription-only medicine (POM)
- A medicine that may lawfully be supplied only on the instruction of an appropriate prescriber.
- 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.
- Sharps
- Needles, blades and other items that can cut or puncture the skin.
- 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, such as health data, that the law gives extra protection and needs a specific legal condition to use.
- Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC)
- The official document for a medicine that sets out how it should be used, including its licensed uses, doses and risks.
- Synchronous contact
- Communication that happens in real time, such as a phone call or video consultation.
- Titration
- Gradually adjusting the dose of a medicine, usually building it up slowly, to find the right level for a person.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Unlicensed medicine
- A medicine that does not have a UK licence for the use intended, which can be supplied only in limited circumstances with extra justification.