National Care Standards: Adult Placement Services

Annex A

Glossary

Adult placement agreement

A written agreement between you and the service, setting out the terms and conditions and rights and responsibilities of everyone involved.

Adult placement carer

The adult placement carer is the person you go to stay with in the placement. The adult placement carer is recruited and approved by the adult placement service to provide support and care in his or her own home.

Adult placement worker

The worker is employed by the adult placement service to arrange, supervise and support your placement with the adult placement carer.

Advocate

Someone who helps you to say what it is you need and to make your own decisions, and who acts as your representative.

Assessment

The process of deciding what a person needs in relation to their health, personal and social care, and what services must be put in place to meet these needs. An assessment is undertaken with the person, his or her relatives or representatives, and relevant professionals.

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 is unpaid.

Complaints process

Clear procedures that help you or others using the service to complain about any aspect of the service.

Intervention

Action intended to benefit the person receiving a service.

NMC

Nursing and Midwifery Council. This organisation was set up by Parliament to ensure nurses, midwives and health visitors provide high standards of care to their paitents and clients. To achieve its aims, the NMC maintains a register of qualified nurses, midwives and health visitors, sets of standards for education, practice and conduct, provides advice for nurses, midwives and health visitors and considers allegations of misconduct or unfitness to practice. Website: www.nmc-uk.org

Personal care

Help with day-to-day physical tasks and needs of the person cared for, including helping them to remember to do things such as eating and washing.

Personal plan

A plan of how the support and care service will be provided, primarily agreed between the person using the service (and/or their representative) and the service provider.

Primary care team

GPs and other health professionals who provide healthcare in the community.

Provider

The owner or manager of a service.

Representative

A person acting on behalf of a person using the service, who may be a relative or friend.

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 in a chair);
• environmental means (for example, electronic locks or video surveillance); or
• medication (using sedative or tranquillising drugs for the symptomatic treatment of restless or agitated behaviour).

Risk management

A systematic approach to the management of risk, to reduce physical injury or loss of life, financial loss, loss of staff availability, safety, or loss of reputation.