1. What non-clinical staff often see first

This module

This is Level 1 module 2 of 2. Together the two modules are 2 hours of Level 1. Non-clinical staff stop here. Clinical staff then take Level 2.

Suggested study time

• What the desk sees — 18 min
• Confidentiality versus reporting — 20 min
• Records, local numbers and supporting colleagues — 17 min
• Knowledge check — 5 min

You see the whole journey

Clinicians see the mouth. You may see who books, who cancels, who pays, who waits in the car, and who will not leave the patient alone. That information matters.

• Repeated cancellations when a child or dependent adult is in pain
• A person who collects someone and will not let them speak at the desk
• Fear, shouting, or controlling behaviour in the waiting room
• A request to hide an appointment from a partner or carer

Mental Capacity Act — awareness only at Level 1

You do not carry out a formal capacity assessment at Level 1. You do need to know that some adults cannot protect themselves, and that an “unwise” choice is not automatically a lack of capacity. Tell the lead if a carer never lets the patient decide.