This informal and unauthorised guide has been assembled out of self-need by someone in West London who attends public care services’ meetings and attempts to read and understand NHS and Local Authority documents. I hope the reader finds it useful.
A&E Accident and Emergency Unit
The historic definition of an A&E unit is a hospital unit to which flashing blue light ambulances deliver patients in pain. These units have an Intensive Care Unit, ICU consultants, ICU beds, Emergency doctors, and are often supported by Urgent Care Centres. Such units no longer exist at Central Middlesex and Hammersmith Hospitals. Apparently by 2021 a historically defined A&E unit will no longer exist at Ealing Hospital.
Academic Health Science Centre
This covers Imperial College and Imperial College Hospital Trust in West London and the specialist services in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital which provide heart, lung and cancer services
AC Accountable Officer
In NWL an Accountable Officer for the eight CCGs is currently being sought
ACP Accountable Care Partnership
Fixed price, long term (10/15 years) contracts to deliver specific services to specific defined populations. Referred to in many October 2016 STPs. No ACPs had gone live by March 2018. As ‘Accountable Care’ has now been replaced with ‘Integrated Care’, one assumes ACP becomes ICP.
ACS Accountable Care System
ACSs were to be the delivery vehicle for implementing STP cost cutting and integrated care services. That is until they were re-named Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in February 2018. ACSs/ICSs will be private consortia of NHS bodies, Local Authorities, GP federations and private care providers who will deliver care services under 10/15 year, fixed price contracts. Specific sections of the population will be targeted and provided with care for specific conditions. Contract cost will be calculated using capitated costing i.e. a fixed annual cost for each head of population. MCP and PACS are ACS/ICS models of care. All ACSs/ICSs were ‘paused’ in January 2018.
Acute
Acute medicine refers to the immediate and early management of adults in hospital who require urgent or emergency care. Generally refers to physical illnesses and conditions (usually short term) which require diagnostic tests, treatment and follow-up care.
ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ADT Admissions, Discharges and Transfers
AHP Allied Health Professional
Healthcare professionals distinct from nursing, medicine and pharmacy. Some 30 professions fit into this category (e.g. anaesthetic technician, music therapist, etc).
ALOS Average Length of Stay
In a hospital bed.
APMS Alternative Provider Medical Services
This is one of three types of GP contracts. It is a time-limited contract type which can be held by private providers including limited liability companies.
AQP Any Qualified Provider
Dating back to 2011, the AQP arrangement allows private healthcare providers to compete for CCG (q.v.) contracts with NHS providers.
ASCOF Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework
ASCOF aims to give an indication of the strengths and weaknesses of social care in delivering better outcomes for people who use adult social care services.
ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder
BAAF British Adoption And Fostering
A voluntary organisation which supports, advises and campaigns for better outcomes for children in care. It was founded over 30 years ago.
BAF Board Assurance Framework
A mechanism to reinforce strategic focus and management of risk
BAME Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic
BDO
The company that is NHS NWL’s External auditor.
BMA British Medical Association
A professional association and trade union for doctors in the UK. It was formed in 1832.
Bed Blocking
When patients, fit to be discharged from hospital, are not discharged due to lack of appropriate facilities in the community. In NHS parlance this is referred to as Deferred Transfers of Care (DTOC).
BCF Better Care Fund
First announced in June 2013, £5.3 billion was to be spent on transforming local health and social care resources by pooling resources. Major goals were reducing hospital admissions and making annual cost savings of £1 billion. BCF went live in April 2015. In November 2015 the Government froze the fund at £3.8 billion. The National Audit Office branded BCF as a ‘shambles’ – hospital admissions rose not fell and instead of cost savings BCF had cost an additional £311 million.
BF Brighter Futures
A London self-advocacy group of active young asylum seekers, refugees and migrants
BHH CCGs Brent, Harrow and Hillingdon CCG Collaborative
CA Clinical Advisor
Responsible for assessing the health and clinical needs of people who phone the NHS 111 telephone service.
CAMHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
Care Network
A group of General Practitioner surgeries in Ealing grouped together to share equipment and services. This includes diagnostic tests (such as ECGs), therapies and services for long term conditions.
Care Setting
Where an individual receives care
CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
A talking therapy that tries to help mental health service users to manage their problems by attempting to change the way they think and behave.
CCG Clinical Commissioning Group
NHS organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in England. To some extent they replaced Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), although some of the PCT staff and responsibilities moved to Council Public Health teams and CSUs after PCTs ceased to exist in April 2013. A well propagated myth is that CCGs are local GP-led. For example, Ealing CCG has 22 people on its Board of Governors only 7 of which are GPs. There are 211 CCGs.
CCU Coronary Care Unit
CDD Clinical Due Diligence
This is the process by which the NHSI is assured that clinical risk will be managed and quality maintained during and after a merger transaction.
CDOP Child Death Overview Panel
- diff Clostridium difficile
A bacterium which causes diarrhoea. It can be fatal. 14,000 deaths in the USA in 2011 were caused by C.diff.
CEPN Community Education Provider Network
CFO Chief Financial Officer
CHC (NHS) Continuing Healthcare
This is free healthcare outside of hospital that is arranged and funded by the NHS. It is only available for people who need ongoing healthcare and who meet a set of eligibility criteria.
CHD Coronary Heart Disease
Choose and Book
This was a national electronic referral service which gives patients a choice of place, date and time for their first outpatient appointment in a hospital. Introduced in 2005 it was replaced by NHS e-Referral service in June 2015.
CI Commissioning Intention
CIP Cost Improvement Programme
Clinical Governance
A framework through which NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care.
Clinical Pathway: An American concept dating back to 1985 which can be viewed as an application of process management thinking to the improvement of patient care. It is applied to a specific group of patients with a predictable clinical course, in which the different tasks (interventions) by the professionals involved in the patient care are defined, optimised and sequenced either by hour (emergency department), day (acute) or visit (home care). Outcomes are tied to specific interventions.
CMHT Community Mental Health Team
CNR Case Notes Review
Co-Commissioning
This is where two or more care service commissioners align their priorities while retaining responsibility for their own resources. Within the NHS this flawed concept of trying to ‘merge’ departments’ competing goals is barely credible. Where, more and more, we are seeing it with NHS and Local Authority bodies attempting co-commissioning it’s ludicrous.
Commissioning
For over 20 years in the NHS there has been a formal separation of service purchasing (so called NHS commissioning) and service provision. This separation opens the way for private healthcare companies to deliver NHS service provision.
COPD Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
CPA Care Programme Approach
The system used to organise care for secondary mental health services.
CQUIN Commissioning for Quality and Innovation
This is a system introduced in 2009 to make a proportion of healthcare providers’ income conditional on demonstrating improvements in quality and innovation in specified areas of care.
CQC Care Quality Commission
A non-departmental public body of UK government set up in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. This includes services provided by NHS, local authorities, private companies and voluntary organisations – whether in hospitals, care homes or people’s homes. It employs over 2,000 staff. CQC has had its share of criticism and controversies during its relatively short life.
CRHT Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment
CRO Clinical Research Organisation
CSC Children’s Social Care
CSU Commissioning Support Unit
Formed in April 2013, CSUs provided extensive care contracting and business support services to CCGs, NHS Trusts, NHS England and Local Government. Services often range from finance and information governance through to acute contract management and health informatics. In 2013 there were 25 CSUs. In 2014 some CSUs were taken in-house by CCGs and some merged with each other. The Government’s intention was that by 2016 CSUs would become independent bodies. By March 2018 there appeared to be five accredited regional public body CSUs. Added to these, are private company CSUs – Capita, Optum (United Health) and the eMBED consortium which includes Dr Foster.
CVD Cardiovascular Disease
CWHHE CCGs
A ‘Collaborative’ of the Clinical Commissioning Groups in Central London, West London, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hounslow and Ealing. Ealing CCG joined this collaborative on 1 December 2013.
C&YP Children and Young People
DDLAC Designated Doctor for Looked After Children
District General Hospital
A Major Hospital.
DTOC Delayed Transfer of Care
Bed blocking to the lay person. DTOCs are often caused by patients who have no available Out of Hospital health/social care package or who need a mental health bed which is unavailable.
DFG Disabled Facilities Grant
A grant available for essential adaptations to give disabled people better freedom of movement into and around their homes. Mandatory DFGs are obtained from local authorities in England and Wales.
DIPC Director of Infection Prevention and Control
A DIPC has executive authority and responsibility for ensuring strategies are implemented to prevent avoidable Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs)
Discharge to Assess
A pilot being led by ECCG and Ealing Hospital to move patients out of a hospital bed into their own bed at home – presumably as quickly as possible.
DNA Did Not Attend
DNLAC Designated Nurse for Looked After Children
DoH Department of Health
DPIA Data Protection Impact Assessment
DPO Data Protection Officer
ECCG
Commissioner of primary and secondary healthcare in Ealing. Allegedly a body of local GPs, but of the 22 members of the Governing Body just 7 are GPs.
ECG Electrocardiogram
An ECG is a recording of the heart’s electrical conductive system.
ED Emergency Department
EHC Plan Education, Health and Care
Introduced in The Children and Families Act (2014)
EIA/EAIA Equality Analysis and Impact Assessment
A process to improve quality of local health services by ensuring that all Trust employees think carefully about the impact of their work on staff, service users and family carers
Elective Hospital
A hospital providing elective surgery and medicine, out-patients and diagnostics and high dependency care. Patients are admitted from a waiting list. Treatment at these facilities is not interrupted by emergency cases (except in winter A&E crises as happened in 2017/18).
EMSA Eliminating Mixed Sex Accommodation
ENT Ear Nose and Throat
EPR Electronic Patient Record
Comprises a series of software applications which bring together key clinical and administrative data into one place.
EQIA Equality Analysis and Impact Assessment
ESCAN Ealing Services for Children with Additional Needs
ESCB Ealing Safeguarding Children Board
ESON Ealing Save Our NHS
Campaigning volunteer organisation active since 2012.
www.ealingsaveournhs.org.uk
ESRF End Stage Renal Failure
ETTF Estates and Technology Transformation
FCE Finished Consultant Episode
The point at which a patient is discharged from the care of a particular consultant
FFT Friends and Family Test
Gives every patient the opportunity to feedback on the quality of the care they receive.
FGM Female Genital Mutilation
FYFV Five Year Forward View
NHSE published this in 2014. It gives details on prevention, empowering patients, new models of care including MCPs, PACS, maternity care and care homes. It extols the virtue of technology, innovation and productivity.
Footprint
There are 44 footprints which cover the whole of England. Footprints are run by representatives of Local Authorities, NHS CCGs and NHS Trusts. Each one created a Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) in October 2016. Footprints must execute their STPs and clear all financial deficits by 2021.
FT (NHS) Foundation Trust
A not for profit, public benefit corporation. It differs from an NHS Trust in as much as it is not directed by government. It can retain any surplus and borrow to invest in improved services. It is accountable to its local community, its commissioners, Parliament, the CQC and NHS Improvement.
FTE Full Time Equivalent
The hours worked by an employee on a full time basis. Can be used to convert hours worked by several part-time workers
GB Governing Body
GDPR General Data Protection Regulation
Comes into effect on 25 May 2018
GMS General Medical Services
One of the three types of GP contracts for delivering Primary care. Was introduced in April 2014.
GP General Practitioner
A qualified doctor who provides primary care, management of long term conditions and health promotion and preventative services.
GPFV General Practice Forward View
Published by NHSE in April 2016, it commits to £2.4 billion/year GP support until 2020/21
HAP Health Action Plan
HASSP Health and Adult Social Services Scrutiny Panel
This statutory body reviews and scrutinises the planning, provision and operation of health services in the area. In the London Borough of Ealing (LBE) this panel meets in public every 11 weeks or so. It is made up of LBE Elected Members (Councillors), LBE Officers and representatives of around 10 local NHS bodies.
HCAI Healthcare Acquired Infections
Infections resulting from medical care or treatment in hospital (in- or out-patient), nursing home or even in a patient’s home. Typically these infections are (in order of incidence) gastrointestinal system, respiratory, urinary tract, surgical site, skin and soft tissue and primary bloodstream.
HCAS High Cost Area Supplement
A long standing funding arrangement which compensates the WLMHT for additional costs of employing staff in the outer London area.
HDU High Dependency Unit
Provides specialist care for adults with different medical and surgical conditions. It assists patients who are at risk of deteriorating.
Health and Wellbeing Board
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 established these boards as forums for key leaders from the health and care system to work together to improve the health and wellbeing of their local population and reduce health inequalities.
HEE Health Education England
Healthwatch
A largely ineffectual consumer champion that gathers and represents the public’s views on health and social care. It is not a regulatory body but it has statutory authority. Funding is from Local Authorities. There are 152 of them throughout England
HENRY Health Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young
HI Health Intelligence
HLP Health London Partnership
HR Human Resources
HSCIC Health and Social Care Information Centre
Set up in April 2013.
H-STAT Health Service Travel Analysis Toolkit
A set of strategic analysis tools developed by TfL and the NHS. The principal tool is a travel time database for both highway and public transport modes in London.
Hub
In NHS NWL a Hub (or a Community Hub) means a physical building which will house a wider range of day care services than would be offered by a smaller GP practice. Services offered will include ophthalmology, cardiology, integrated diabetes service, long term condition management, community mental health, physiotherapy, dermatology, gynaecology, phlebotomy, MSK, ENT, adult community care and enhanced Primary care.
IAPT Improving Access to Psychological Services
An NHS programme offering interventions approved by NICE for treating people with depression, anxiety disorders, panics, phobias, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and post traumatic stress disorder. Treatments include education groups, counselling, guided self help and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
ICASE Integrated Care and Support Exchange
This team helps pioneer integrated care sites
ICHT Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
ICP Integrated Care Pathway
One way of managing, monitoring and recording a patient’s care. See ‘Clinical Pathway’.
ICS Integrated Care System
The new (February 2018) name for Accountable Care System (ACS)
ICT Information and Communications Technology
ICU Intensive Care Unit
A special Ward which provides intensive care for those patients who are in a critically ill or unstable condition.
IDCR Integrated Digital Care Record
IG Information Governance
IGPR International GP Recruitment
ImBC SOC1
One of two 2012 NHS North West London (NWL) SaHF business cases, which requested £513 million for building work at hospitals, GP surgeries and building community health hubs in NWL. It first appeared in public in December 2016 and was rejected by NHSE/NHSI (London) in November 2017, on the grounds of lack of evidence to justify reducing NELs annually by 99,000 by 2025/26. If ImBC SOC1 does not get Treasury approval then the SaHF plan to eliminate Ealing District Hospital falls apart and there is no Plan B.
ImBC SOC2
The other 2012 NHS NWL SaHF business case, which will request £314 million for building work at ‘inner’ NWL hospitals. As of April 2018, this business case had not been submitted for approval or made public.
Integrated Care
The Coalition Government planned that the health and social care system will be fully joined together by 2018. The approach is that structures like the Health and Wellbeing Boards will bring together Local Authorities, the NHS, social care providers, education, housing services and others to bring about better integration of local services. This nirvana had not been achieved by 2018, and it is unlikely to be achieved for many years to come.
ICS Integrated Care System
In February 2018 NHS decided to change the name of Accountable Care System (ACS) to Integrated Care System (ICS). See Accountable Care System
IC Intermediate Care
NHS Intermediate Care Services are provided to patients – mostly older – to help them avoid going into hospital. They last up to six weeks and can be delivered at home or in a care home.
IHA Initial Health Assessment
For Looked After Children
IPS Individual Placement Support
This aims to develop employment support for adults with addiction
IPR Integrated Performance Review
IRP Independent Reconfiguration Panel
A supposedly independent expert group focusing on NHS service change. In the NWL IRP in date most members were paid directly or indirectly by the NHS. It offers informal advice and guidance to the Secretary of State for Health. Its recommendations have no statutory authority. The NHS NW London IRP found no compelling evidence to support the SaHF downsizing of Charing Cross and Ealing Hospitals.
ISA Information Sharing Agreement
ISP Intensive Support Programme
For acute mental health service users this involves talking about feelings, emotions and ways of thinking and behaving.
JHOSC Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
In north west London this body is composed of Councillors from 9 Local Authorities. Senior NHS staff are invited to attend its six times a year meetings. Its purpose appears to be to scrutinise both the purchasing of NHS services and the delivery of NHS services. Attendance by Local Government Councillors is sporadic.
KPI Key Performance Indicator
The purpose of KPIs is to define consistent performance measures for a selection of public health priorities. Examples of these indicators are psychological support, quality, outcomes, unplanned admissions, access, communication and activity.
LA Local Authority
LAC Looked After Children
Refers to all children and young people under 16 who are either ‘In Care’ (Part IV of the Children Act) or ‘Accommodated’ (Part III of the Children Act).
LAS London Ambulance Service
LBE London Borough of Ealing
LIFT Local Improvement Finance Trust
An NHS LIFT is a public/private partnership funded NHS facility. A kind of PFI
LIS Local Improvement Scheme
Local Hospital
Its strict, formal definition by the NHS North West London (NWL) is still awaited. However a working definition might be: a hospital providing an Urgent Care Centre, outpatients, diagnostics, and further day care services, including specialist clinics and outpatient rehabilitation. An NHS NWL Local Hospital has no traditional A&E services, no Emergency Care consultants, no Intensive Care Unit and no operating theatres. Ambulances will never deliver chronically ill or severely injured patients to an NHS NWL Local Hospital.
London Health and Care Information Exchange
Launched in May 2016, this is an £18 million grant funded three year project
London North West University NHS Healthcare Trust
Formed on 1 October 2014, this organisation includes Central Middlesex, Ealing, Northwick Park and St Marks hospitals together with community services across Brent, Ealing and Harrow including Willesden Centre for Health and Care. It employs 8,000 staff and serves 850,000 people. (Sometime in 2018 ‘University’ was added to its name. Apparently the University is University College London, but the University of Buckingham has an office in Ealing Hospital and there are also links with Imperial College London).
LSU Low Secure Unit
Delivers intensive, comprehensive, multidisciplinary treatment and care by qualified staff for patients who demonstrate disturbed/violent behaviour in the context of a serious mental disorder and who require the provision of security.
LTC Long Term Condition
Such as chronic pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, mental health problems and people with a high risk of a stroke.
Major Hospital
A hospital providing A&E, Urgent Care Centre, trauma care, emergency surgery, intensive care, obstetrics, midwife unit and in-patient paediatrics. District General Hospitals are Major Hospitals.
MCP Multispeciality Community Provider
MCPs are new place-based models of care, which deliver Primary care and community-based health and care services. MCPs serve whole populations. There are 14 MCP Vanguards which were selected in 2015/16. MCPs are ACS/ICS models of care – see ACS or ICS. MCPs were first introduced in NHSE’s Five Year Forward View in 2014.
MDT Multi-discipline Teams
MECC Making Every Contact Count
MHFA Mental Health First Aid
MI Myocardial Infarction
A heart attack
Monitor
The body which regulated health services in England – and is now part of NHS Improvement
MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields and radio waves to form images of the body
MRSA Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
A bacterium responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. It is resistant to penicillins. It is especially troublesome where patients have open wounds, invasive devices and weakened immune systems.
MSK Musculoskeletal
Encompasses well over 200 disorders affecting joints, bones, muscles and soft tissues (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lower and upper back pain, osteoporosis and carpal tunnel syndrome)
MSU Medium Secure Unit
Houses people who have been admitted by the Courts under the Mental Health Act (MHA), who have been transferred from prison under the MHA or people transferred from an ordinary hospital ward because it is felt they need to be treated in a more secure setting.
NAO National Audit Office
NCA Non-Contact Activity
Known as ‘Out of Area Treatment’ prior to 2005. This is where patients cannot be treated locally because of resource unavailability and have to be treated elsewhere. In 2012/13 for example there were 232 NCA patients living in Leeds who were treated elsewhere – some as far away as Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. NCA also applies to overseas visitors.
NHSE NHS England
It oversees the budget, planning and delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the NHS in England. It also holds the contracts for some GPs and dentists.
NHSI NHS Improvement
Operational since 1 April 2016, it oversees NHS Foundation Trusts, NHS Trusts and private suppliers of NHS-funded care. It took over Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority
NHS Number
This is the National Unique Identifier used to help healthcare staff and service providers match you to your health records. The NHS care.data programme, run by Atos, releases this number to any third party unless you have written to your GP forbidding this.
NHSNWL National Health Service North West London
NELs Non-Elective Admissions
These are largely emergency admissions into Major Hospitals.
NTDA NHS Trust Development Authority
Responsible for providing leadership and support to the non-Foundation Trust sector of NHS providers. Now part of NHS Improvement.
NOS National Occupational Standards
NWL North West London
OD Organisational Development
OFSTED The Office for Standards for Education, Children’s Services & Skills
Once for London
Pan-London operating principles for Primary Care set up by NHS London
OOB Out of Borough
OOH Out Of Hours
OPE Operational Pressures Escalation
This framework provides a way of hospitals indicating how much pressure they are under on any particular day.
OP+LTC Old People and Long Term Conditions
Out of Hospital Services (OOH)
This involves delivering more care in community settings such as in patients’ homes, GP surgeries, and local health centres. Illness Prevention through self-help is also part of OOH. It aims to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, visits to hospital and fewer hospital beds.
PACS Primary and Acute Care System
PACS join up GP, hospital, community and mental health services. Nine Vanguards were chosen to develop PACS. PACS was first mentioned in the NHSE Five Year Forward View in 2014. PACS is an ACS/ICS model of care – see ACS or ICS.
PAM Patient Activation Measure
PAS Patient Administration System
An IT system which automates the administrative paperwork in healthcare organisations, particularly hospitals.
Pathway
See ‘Clinical Pathway’
PAU Paediatric Assessment Unit
PCCC Ealing CCG’S Primary Care Commissioning Committee
PFI Private Finance Initiative
A way of creating ‘public-private’ partnerships (PPPs) by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital. Early PFIs were 60 year projects but in recent years 30 years is the standard. The total cost of new PFI hospitals will be considerably more than the build costs. The new Barts Hospital cost £1.1 billion to build but when fully paid off in 2048/49 the total cost will have been £7.1 billion.
PGM Policy and Guidance Manual
PICU Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit
A safe, secure and low stimulus Ward environment separate from the rest of the inpatient unit.
PID Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
PMCF Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund
PMS Premenstrual Syndrome
PMS Personal Medical Services
One of the three types of GP contracts.
Polyclinic
A place where a wide range of health care services (including diagnostics) can be obtained without the need of an overnight stay. Although common and successful in Cuba, France, Germany, India, Russia and Ukraine, polyclinics never got off the ground in England. The original 2007 Lord Darzi plan suggested a total of 150 NHS Polyclinics in London, each dealing with around 25,000 patients. This plan was never implemented. The October 2016 STPs refer to ‘Hubs’ which seem quite similar to the Polyclinic idea.
PPE Patient and Public Engagement
Primary Care
Usually the first place people go for health advice and treatment, outside of a hospital. The service is provided near to or in a patient’s home by GPs, nurses, therapists, dentists, pharmacists and opticians. These Primary Care providers deliver health promotion, care and treatment, and refer patients to and liaise with hospitals and other care providers.
PSED Public Sector Equality Duty
Requires NHS organisations to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and good relations.
PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
QIPP Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention
Large scale transformation programme for the NHS which aimed to improve the quality of care and make £20 billion efficiency savings by 2014/15.
QOF Quality and Outcome Framework
A voluntary annual reward and incentive programme detailing GP practice achievement results. Introduced in 2004 it gives an indication of the overall achievement of a surgery through a points system.
QRP Quality & Risk Profile
A tool used for gathering together key information about an NHS service provider to support how compliance is monitored with the essential standards of quality and safety. QRP helps CQC assess where risks lie.
QPS Quality Payments Scheme
Q&S Quality and Safety
RCA Root Cause Analysis
A systematic approach to the assessment of Serious Incidents
RCPsych Royal College of Psychiatrists
RFI Request For Information
RR Rapid Response
RSM
NHS NWL Internal auditor – previously known as Baker Tilley
RTT Referral To Treatment
A target time NHS England set for hospitals to treat within a period of time starting when the request for treatment is made.
Safeguarding Adults’ Board
An Independent multi-agency partnership which raises awareness and promotes the welfare of vulnerable adults by the development of an effective co-operative.
SaHF Shaping a Healthier Future
This is an experiment in NHS NW London which is an attempt to cut costs by closing 4 out of 9 hospital A&Es, downgrading 4 hospitals to enhanced UCC status and changing settings of care for up to 2 million people from hospital to ambulance, home, GP surgery or community healthcare facility. Announced in 2012, its annual financial savings target of 4% had by March 2018 not been achieved. Also by March 2018 only 2 A&Es had been closed. In November 2017, the SaHF business case (IMBC SOC1) which asked for £513 million for building work was rejected by NHSE/NHSI (London).
SCF Strategic Commissioning Framework
SDQ Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire
A short behavioural/mental health questionnaire for 13-16 year old Looked After Children
Secondary Care
Specialist care typically provided in a hospital setting or following referral from a primary or community professional.
SCO Special Guardianship Order
SHMI Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator
The ratio between the actual number of patients who die following treatment at a Trust and the number that would be expected to die on the basis of average England figures, given the characteristics of the patients treated there.
SI Serious Incident
SIRO Serious Risk Information Owner
SLA Service Level Agreement
SOH Save Our Hospitals
Hammersmith and Fulham volunteer campaigning organisation.
SPA Single Point of Access
Single telephone number support. Currently used by WLMHT mental patients in Ealing, Fulham, Hammersmith and Hounslow. Should have 24/7 clinical support but is sometimes deficient in this respect.
Specialist Hospital
A hospital offering highly specialised care, such as for cardiothoracics and cancer.
SRO Senior Responsible Officer
The individual responsible for ensuring that a project or programme of change meets its objectives and delivers the projected benefits.
STEIS Strategic Executive Information System
STP Sustainability and Transformation Plan
STPs are five year cost cutting and improvement plans (2016 – 2021) for healthcare and social care. STPs are created by Footprints. Each of the 44 Footprints in England published its STP in October 2016. The STP care services’ delivery mechanisms were to be Accountable Care Partnerships (ACPs), Multispeciality Community Providers (MCPs) and Primary and Acute Care Systems (PACS). Accountable Care Systems (ACSs) entered the NHS lexicon in 2017. STPs will apparently eventually morph into ACSs. However in February 2018 the ‘Accountable Care’ name was ditched and replaced by ‘Integrated Care’.Somewhat confusingly in March 2017, NHSE also began defining STP to mean Sustainability and Transformation Partnership.
SystemOne
A healthcare software system. It has been used widely in the NHS since 2006. Applications include those for GPs, community care, children’s healthcare services, mental health, Secondary Care and social services. It allows for remote access to patient records and for clinical and medication ordering.
S&T Strategy and Transformation
TDA NHS Trust Development Authority
Provided leadership and support to the non-Foundation Trust sector of NHS providers. Now part of NHS Improvement.
Transport for London
A local government body (‘statutory corporation’) responsible for most aspects of the major public transport systems in Greater London.
THH The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
TIA Transient Ischaemic Attack
A ‘mini-stroke’
TOR Terms Of Reference
TPP
The UK company which developed and supports SystemOne.
Trusts
Trusts are in effect public sector companies providing services on behalf of NHS England.
UASC Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children
UCC Urgent Care Centre
A limited range of ‘minor’ emergency and accident conditions are treated at UCCs – but 44 defined conditions (at Ealing Hospital UCC) are not treated. Staffed by GPs and nurses these can complement A&Es or exist as stand alone facilities. As stand alone facilities they will not receive flashing blue light ambulances and will have no on-site access to Intensive Care beds, consultants or an ICU.
UCLH University College London Hospital
Unbundled Services
The breakdown of components of care pathways into individual service elements such as rehabilitation, high cost drugs and critical care. This allows these elements to be priced and commissioned separately.
Vanguards
NHS grant-supported experiments in developing and delivering new care models. There are 50 of them and they were selected between January and September 2015. They are variously collections of NHS CCGs, Trusts, GP federations, Ambulance services, Local and County Councils, and private healthcare suppliers all trying to work together. Vanguard missions include Acute care collaboration, urgent and Emergency care, enhanced care in care homes, MCPs, and integrated Primary and Acute care systems. So far to March 2018, £346 million has been spent on them.
WLA West London Alliance
A 17 year old partnership between seven West London Local Authorities – Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hillingdon and Hounslow.
WLMHT West London Mental Health Trust
Provides mental health services for the 770,000 residents in Ealing, Hounslow, Hammersmith and Fulham. Also manages Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital for men in Crowthorne, Berkshire.
WRAP Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent
WRES Workforce Race Equality Standard
WSIC Whole Systems Integrated Care
WTE Whole Time Equivalent
Human Resources term for a job requiring a full time employee or two half time employees.
YP Young People
YTD Year to Date
Version: 7
16 April 2018
