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Annex A Glossary
Advance statement
Also called 'advance directive' or 'living will'. A statement made when a person is competent (has capacity), detailing how they wish to be treated if, in time, they become unable to express this for any reason. Advance statements are not legally binding but are taken into account by all members of the healthcare team.
Allied health professionals
Currently this includes - Art Therapists, Dieticians, Occupational Therapists, Orthoptics, Orthotists/Prosthetists, Physiotherapists, Podiatrists, Radiographers, Speech and Language Therapists.
Carer
A person who looks after family, partners or friends in need of help because they are ill, frail or have a disability. The care they provide may be unpaid.
Chaperone
Someone who goes with an individual to make sure that nothing inappropriate takes place during an examination or treatment.
Clinical assessment
Assessments based on an individual's clinical need (for example, by nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, etc.)
Clinician
A health professional (for example, physician, psychiatrist, nurse or medical scientist) engaged in the care of patients, as distinct from one working in other areas, such as research.
Communication support
A means of aiding communication which does not involve translation or interpretation. Examples include the use of lip speakers to aid lip-reading, and various technologies used to assist communication.
Controlled drugs
Some prescription medicines are classified as controlled drugs, for example morphine, pethidine and methadone, because they can be misused. These medicines have stricter legal controls on their supply to stop them from being obtained illegally.
Current best practice guidelines
Written guidelines for agreed ways to carry out treatment and care for patients. Often, these are put together by healthcare professionals based on the best available evidence. These guidelines are constantly added to and reviewed. Over time, the guidelines recommended as best practice will change to take account of new evidence.
Disclosure Scotland
A new Disclosure Bureau has been established within the Scottish Criminal Record Office for the purposes of issuing certificates under Part V of the Police Act 1977. This new service is known as Disclosure Scotland and will be responsible for issuing three levels of certificates to be known as Basic disclosures, Standard disclosures and Enhanced disclosures. The aim of the new Disclosure Scotland service is to enhance public safety and to help employers and voluntary organisations in Scotland to make safer recruitment decisions.
GMC
General Medical Council. The main aim of the GMC is to protect patients by:
- promoting high standards of medical education, including continuing education;
- fostering good medical practice, including issuing guidance on this and other issues (for example, ethics); and
- dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt.
The GMC also maintains up-to-date registers of all qualified doctors. Website: www.gmc-uk.org
Medication
A substance administered for treatment purposes.
Patient care record
An integrated, multi-disciplinary record of all care assessment and treatment, including the medical component.
Pharmaceutical
Relating to drugs or medicines.
Physiotherapist
A healthcare professional who is qualified in and concerned with human function and movement and maximising potential. He or she uses physical approaches (for example, electricity, heat, cold, sound, acupuncture and light), as well as physical activity, exercise and massage to promote, maintain and restore physical, psychological and social wellbeing, taking account of variations in health.
Professional indemnity insurance
Insurance against loss or damage as a consequence of a professional's work or an arrangement made for the purposes of insuring a healthcare professional against adverse rewards of cost or damages.
Public liability insurance
Insurance against loss or damage suffered by the public as a consequence of negligence or inappropriate action.
Radiology
The science of radiation referring to its use in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Resuscitation
Restoration to life or consciousness of one who has collapsed or stopped breathing.
Restraint
Control to prevent a person from harming themselves or other people by the use of:
- physical means (actual or threatened laying on of hands on a person to stop them carrying out a particular action);
- mechanical means (for example, wrapping someone in a sleeping bag or strapping them to a chair);
- environmental means (for example, using cot sides to prevent someone from getting out of bed); or
- medication (using sedative or tranquillising drugs for the symptomatic treatment of restlessness or agitated behaviour).
Risk management
A systematic approach to the management of risk to reduce: loss of life; financial loss; loss of staff availability; and to enhance safety.
Therapy
A treatment for disorder or disease.
Ultrasound examination
The use of ultrasonic waves for diagnostic purposes, specifically to image an internal body structure or monitor a developing foetus.
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