Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- A Competency Framework for all Prescribers
- A framework describing good prescribing for every prescribing profession.
- British Menopause Society (BMS)
- The UK specialist society for health professionals in menopause care.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care in England.
- College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (CoSRH)
- The professional body that publishes UK contraception guidance.
- Controlled drug
- A medicine with extra legal controls because it could be misused.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law that sits alongside the UK GDPR on the use of personal data.
- Drug Safety Update
- The MHRA's safety bulletin for health professionals.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with patients when things go wrong.
- Equality Act 2010
- The law protecting people from discrimination, including because of sex or gender reassignment.
- FP10PCD
- The private prescription form for controlled drugs in Schedules 2 and 3; not used for testosterone.
- General Medical Council (GMC)
- The regulator of doctors in the UK.
- General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
- The regulator of pharmacists and pharmacies in Great Britain.
- General practitioner (GP)
- A family doctor who usually holds the patient's main medical record.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting the fundamental standards registered providers must meet.
- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- Medicines replacing the hormones, mainly oestrogen, that fall at the menopause.
- Human Medicines Regulations 2012
- The main UK law on licensing, supplying and advertising medicines.
- Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD)
- Persistently low sexual desire that causes distress and has no other explanation.
- Levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS)
- A device in the womb releasing a progestogen; 52 mg versions can protect the womb lining during HRT.
- Marketing authorisation
- The licence allowing a medicine to be sold and setting out how it may be used.
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- The UK agency that licenses medicines and monitors their safety.
- Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001
- The rules on how controlled drugs may be prescribed, supplied and stored.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
- The body publishing national clinical guidelines, including NG23 on the menopause.
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- The regulator of nurses and midwives in the UK.
- Off-label use
- Using a licensed medicine in a way its licence does not cover.
- Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI)
- Loss of normal ovarian function before age 40.
- Progestogen
- A hormone given with oestrogen to protect the womb lining.
- Records Management Code of Practice (2023)
- National guidance on managing and retaining health records.
- Shared care
- A written agreement handing prescribing responsibility to another prescriber, such as a GP.
- Special
- An unlicensed medicine made by a licensed manufacturer for one patient's needs.
- Summary of product characteristics (SmPC)
- The official description of how a licensed medicine may be used.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data protection law.
- Unlicensed medicine
- A medicine with no UK licence, such as a special or an import.
- Yellow Card scheme
- The MHRA system for reporting suspected side effects and medicine defects.