Glossary

A&E - Accident & Emergency is a service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week where people receive treatment for medical and surgical emergencies that are likely to need admission to hospital.

Access - The availability of NHS services – ‘getting the care you need’. A key theme in the NHS Plan.

Accountability - One of the three foundations of public service. Everything done by those who work in the NHS must be able to stand the test of parliamentary scrutiny, public judgements on propriety and professional codes of conduct.

Active Support and Recovery (ASAR): Active Support and Recovery (ASR) focuses on creating truly 'person-centered' care, where services are built around the user. It’s about working with our partners and providers to create the right model of care.

Acute - Acute NHS Trusts provide services such as accident and emergency departments, inpatient and outpatient medicine and surgery and in some cases very specialist medical care. They provide secondary care, ranging from relatively small district hospitals to large city teaching hospitals.

The word acute, in health terms, generally refers to physical illnesses and conditions (usually short-term) which require diagnostic tests, treatment and follow-up care. (There is longer-term care provision but most inpatient stays are of a short duration.)

Acute Assessment Unit (AAU) - A short-stay department, usually less than 48 hours, within some hospitals that is separate from the emergency department, Acute Assessment Units deliver emergency ambulatory care to ensure swift and effective decision making and allow assessment of patients with the aim of preventing prolonged length of stay.

Acute hospital - A hospital which provides a range of care that normally takes a short time to complete – e.g. accident and emergency, maternity, surgery, medical, x-ray, radiotherapy, and so on.

Acute hospital care - Acute care is hospital care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery.

Acute medical beds - Acute medical beds receive patients over the age of 16 who have been referred directly by the GP or A&E department because they have an urgent medical problem.

Acute services - Medical and surgical treatment provided mainly in hospitals and minor injury units.

Acute stroke care – An acute stroke unit provides care to patients from day three after stroke until discharge from hospital.

Acute Trust: NHS acute trusts manage hospitals.  Some are regional or national centres for specialist care, others are attached to universities and help to train health professionals.  Some acute trusts also provide community services.

Admissions – When a patient is admitted to hospital.

Advocacy - Where a person acts as a champion for a patient or carer. An advocate could be one of a range of people including pharmacists, doctors, voluntary workers or the carer themselves.

Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) - A diverse group of statutory-registered practitioners, other than dentistry, nursing and medicine, who deliver high quality care to patients across a wide range of care pathways and in a variety of settings, including physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

Ambulatory care: Ambulatory care is a patient-focused service where some conditions may be treated without the need for an overnight stay in hospital. You will receive the same medical treatment you would previously have received as an inpatient. The aim of this service is to provide you with the care required to treat your condition during scheduled ambulatory care opening hours. You will be able to return home and if further treatment is required you will be asked to return to the unit to receive this.

Audit Commission - An independent public body responsible for ensuring that public money is spent economically, efficiently, honestly and effectively in the areas of local Government, housing, health, criminal justice and fire and rescue services.

Average length of stay (ALOS) - An average of the length of time a patient stays in a hospital when admitted. Collection of this data is essential to service planners and audit. (See also LOS - Length of Stay).

BAME (Black Asian and Minority Ethnic Groups) - Identified as a vulnerable group in health terms. Local health improvement programmes may include strategies to deal with the health needs of minority ethnic groups

Bed Blocking - The number of beds in a ward or department, which refers to staffed beds used overnight. Where patients, fit to be discharged from hospital, are not discharged due to lack of appropriate facilities in the community. This leads to delayed discharge.

Benchmarking - A process whereby organisations identify best performers. In particular, they examine how results are achieved in order to bring their own performance in line with the best performers.

Blood transfusion services – A blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood into a patient’s circulation.

Blue Light Case - Patient transported to hospital A&E by emergency ambulance in response to a 999 call or GP request.

Booked Admissions - Booked Admissions – is becoming ‘Choose and Book’The NHS national booked admissions scheme is a style of booking system which enables patients to arrange convenient out-patient and in-patient admission dates, leading to fewer cancelled operations, less bureaucracy and more efficient use of NHS time and resources.

Business Intelligence Team (BIT) - A team in an NHS organisation that provides regular activity and finance data, and will also provide information as requested.

Capital costs - Capital costs are one-time expenses incurred on the purchase of land, buildings, construction, and equipment. These investments do not affect our annual running costs.

Capital Resource Limit (CRL) - The limit on capital spend that a CCG is required to meet each year

Cardiology - The branch of medicine that deals with diseases and abnormalities of the heart.

Cardiovascular - Also known as heart disease, this refers to diseases that affect the heart or blood vessels. (CVS). Hypertension (high blood pressure) is the most common form.

Care Management - A system of organising care to vulnerable adults by local authority social services departments. It involves assessing needs, care planning, the organisation of care packages within available resources, monitoring and review and close involvement with service users and carers.

Care outside hospital: Care that takes place outside of hospital, in a community setting. This could be a patient's home, community bed or community health centre.

Care plan/pathway: The care and treatment a patient receives from start to finish for a particular illness or condition, usually across several parts of the health service and often including social care. A care pathway as planned for a condition is intended to ensure full seamless integration of all the necessary services.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) - The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of all health and social care services in England.

Carer - A person who looks after or supports someone else due to illness or disability. This can be an unpaid, informal carer, who may be a family member, including children and young people, who live with the person they care for; or family, friends or neighbours who live elsewhere. Carer is also used to describe paid staff working in care homes and/or supporting people at home.

Case for Change - Sets out the reasons why current health and integrated services need to change if Lincolnshire is to improve health, reduce health inequalities and deliver health and integrated care services which are of consistently high quality within the money available.

CCG Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG): These are the health commissioning organisations which replaced primary care trusts (PCTs) in April 2013. CCGs are led by GPs and represent a group of GP practices in a certain area. They are responsible for commissioning healthcare services in both community and hospital settings.

Centre of Excellence - A Centre of Excellence is essentially a specialist clinic where expert health professionals (doctors, physios, speech therapists etc.) come together to provide the very best care and treatment for patients affected by conditions.

CHC: Continuing Healthcare. CHC is health care provided over an extended period of time for people with long-term needs or disability / people's care needs after hospital treatment has finished.

Chemotherapy – Chemotherapy is the treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances, especially the treatment of cancer.

Children’s Services - Healthcare services aimed at the care of children and adolescents.

Choose and Book - A service that allows patients and their GP to choose the date, time and hospital for their initial referral and book it on-line

Chronic Disease / Long Term Condition - A disease, condition or health problem which persists over a long period of time. The illness may recur frequently and, in some cases, may lead to partial or permanent disabilities. Examples include: arthritis, diabetes and hypertension.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - the name for a collection of lung diseases including chronic bronchitis, emphysema and chronic obstructive airways disease.

Citizen’s Panel (CP) - A Citizens' Panel is a large, demographically representative group of citizens regularly used to assess public preferences and opinions.

Clinical - Relating to the treatment of a patient or to the course of a disease or condition.

Clinical Audit - A cyclical evaluation and measurement by health professionals of the clinical standards they are achieving.

Clinical Evidence - Authoritative medical resource for informing treatment decisions and improving patient care.

Clinical Governance - A framework through which NHS organisations are accountable for improving continuously the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care, by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish.

Clinical Strategy Group (CSG) - In response to a locally set vision for clinical services, a group of suitably qualified individuals who help develop strategy to support physical / mental health, wellness and promote individual independence for as long as possible.

Clinical Team - A clinical team may comprise of doctors, nurses and other health staff who provide services of a particular type, for example, audiology.

Clinical Working Group - A forum for GPs and clinicians based in both acute and primary care to discuss issues relating to the delivery of health care.

Commission/Commissioning - Process in which the health service identifies local needs for services and assesses them against the available public and private sector provision. Priorities are decided and services are purchased from the most appropriate providers through contracts and service agreements. As part of the commissioning process services are subject to regular evaluation.

Commissioning Intentions - High level statements that outline the CCG’s commissioning Intentions for the financial year in terms of quality, financial dis/investment and in/decreases in activity.

Communications and engagement (C&E) - A team providing support in communicating and engaging with patients, carers, the public, GPs, nurses and other stakeholders. The team responds to media requests and manages all traditional and digital communications channels.

Community Education Provider Networks (CEPN) - Local CCG-led group of providers including social services, co-ordinating and prioritising a more network-based approach to designing and delivering health education and training.

Community Care - A network of services provided by social services departments of local authorities with the NHS and volunteers. It supports older people, people who have mental health problems, or people who have learning disabilities, who might previously have been in a long stay hospital. Not to be confused with community health services.

Community Health Care (CHC) - Care provided locally, designed to keep people out of hospital and providing treatment in or near their homes. It is normally given by district nurses, health visitors, community midwives and community psychiatric nurses, attached to general practice surgeries.

Community Ward - A term used to describe how Community Nursing services are aligned in a multi-disciplinary approach to deliver pro-active case management to patients with a long-term condition, and to manage patients in their home with an acute condition.

Complex elective medicine or surgery: A planned operation or medical care where the patient may need to be in a high-dependency unit while recovering from the operation, either because the operation is complex or because they have other health problems.

Complex elective surgery: Including cancer operations, operations for heart disease, bariatric surgery and hip replacements.

Consultant: A person who provides professional or expert advice in a particular field.

Continuity of care: Ensuring that people with long-term health conditions see the same team of GPs and other healthcare professionals.

Continuing Healthcare (CHC) - Continuing Care services are provided in hospital, at home, in a care home, in a day hospital or day centre, or in a hospice. These services are funded by CCGs for patients meeting a set criteria. Services may include continuing NHS health care in a care home or other setting, rehabilitation and recovery services, palliative care, respite health care, specialist health care support, specialist health care equipment, and specialist transport.

Coronary Care Unit (CCU) - Dedicated unit for specialist (heart) coronary care.

Corporate governance - A framework through which organisations are accountable for standards in conducting corporate business, including meeting statutory financial duties. Primary Care Trusts (and other Trusts) have Boards, which are responsible for Corporate Governance. Their Boards hold meetings in public and publish an Annual Report.

Day case or day surgery – Day case patients are admitted for care or treatment which can be completed in a few hours and does not require a hospital bed overnight.  Normally describes what patients receive when they attend the acute hospital for planned/elective care.

Delayed Discharge - Where patients fit for discharge remain in acute hospital beds when other suitable forms of care are not provided.

Demographic Trends - Changes in age, sex and size of the population over time.

Deliberative Event - Event where public, patients, service users and staff become actively involved in the shaping of NHS policy by discussing evidence, challenges and potential solutions in detail.

Department of Health (DoH) - A department of the UK government with responsibility for government policy for health in England.

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) - EMAS provides emergency 999 and urgent care for the 4.8 million people within Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire (including North and North East Lincolnshire), Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire.

East Midlands Clinical Senate (EMCS) - The East Midlands is one of 11 regional Clinical Senates. Clinical Senates act as a source of clinical leadership and impartial clinical advice to support commissioners and other stakeholders to make the best decisions about health care for their populations. Clinical Senates' advice may be provided to, or be of relevance to, a number of different bodies within the NHS and care system, including Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), local government, providers, commissioners, improvement bodies, and regulators.

Combining expert clinical leaders with patient involvement, EMCS provide proactive and reactive advice across the health care system for the benefit of improved patient outcomes and population health.

Elective - An elective or planned admission is not an emergency admission; this is a procedure that has been arranged in advance.

Elective Admission - An admission in which the decision to admit can be separated in time from the actual admission, and usually requires at least a one-night stay.

Elective Care / Treatment - Pre-arranged, non-emergency care that includes scheduled operations. It is provided by medical and surgical specialists in a hospital or other secondary care setting.

Elective Hospital: This is where patients go if they need an operation which is not urgent and so can be planned.

Electronic Patient Record (EPR) - Patient information is available electronically, on screen, at any hospital location, at any time.

Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) - EPS allows prescribers to send prescriptions electronically to a dispenser (such as a pharmacy) of the patient's choice. This makes the prescribing and dispensing process more efficient and convenient for patients and staff.

Electrocardiogram (ECG) - A test of the electrical activity of the heart.

Emergency Admission - A patient who is admitted to hospital on the same day due to urgent need (also known as urgent admission and unplanned care).

Emergency Care - Providing life-saving measures in life-threatening situations.

Emergency Department (ED) - Part of a hospital concerned with the immediate treatment of patients who have had an accident and require medical or surgical emergency care (see also A&E)

Emergency surgery: Surgery that is not planned and which is needed for urgent conditions.  This includes surgery for appendicitis, perforated or obstructed bowel and gallbladder infections.  It is also known as non-elective surgery.

End of Life Care (EOLC) - Specialist care for all patients nearing the end of their lives.

Endocrinology - The branch of physiology and medicine concerned with endocrine glands and hormones.

Endoscopy – A procedure in which an instrument is introduced into the body to give a view of its internal parts.

ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) – A doctor who has special training in diagnosing and treating diseases of the ear, nose, and throat.

Equality Act 2010 - The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, making the law easier to understand and strengthening protection in some situations. It sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone.

Equality Delivery System (EDS) - The EDS is a tool to help local NHS commissioners and providers, in discussion with local partners including local people, to review and improve their performance for people with characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. It applies to both people who use services and to the workforce. By using the EDS NHS organisations can be helped to deliver on the public sector Equality Duty (PSED). The EDS was originally launched in 2011. It was refreshed and relaunched – as EDS2 – in 2013.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - The NHS has an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Framework which has been developed to address existing health inequalities in compliance with the Equality Act 2010. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion covers ethnicity and other protected characteristics. It applies to all aspects of NHS operations including access and recruitment.

Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) - This is a tool used in evidence based policy or decision making. It ensures equality analysis is carried out as required by law (Equality Act 2010). They assess the actual or likely effect of policies/decisions on groups of people / those with protected characteristics.

Essence of care - An initiative aimed at improving patient experience by identifying best practice in areas such as nutrition and privacy and dignity.

Evidence-based practice/Evidence-based Medicine - Concerns the development of clinical practice guidelines, which are based on a thorough review of all the available research in a given area.

Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) - The point at which a patient is discharged from the care of a particular consultant.

Freedom of Information (FOI) - The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides a right of access to a wide range of information held by public authorities, including the NHS. The purpose is to promote greater openness and accountability.

Foundation Trust - NHS foundation trusts have been established as new public interest organisations accountable to local people and free from Whitehall control. Drawing on models from co-operative societies, mutual organisations and charities in Britain and abroad, NHS foundation trusts work for NHS patients and wide public benefit. Each NHS foundation trust has a Board of Governors, including governors elected by members of the local community and NHS colleagues, to provide accountability to stakeholders.

Friends and Family Test (FFT) - A measure of patient safisfaction of NHS services. The test was created to help service providers and commissioners understand whether patients are happy with the service provided, or where improvements are needed. It's a quick and anonymous way to give your views after receiving NHS care or treatment.

Front-end - A term that refers to the initial stages of a process.

Gastroenterology - Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders.

General Medical Services (GMS) - Personal medical services provided by general medical practitioners, for example, giving appropriate health promotion advice, offering consultations and physical examinations, offering appropriate examinations and immunisations.

General Medicine - The assessment, diagnosis and treatment of disease and the maintenance of health via non-surgical means.

General Practitioner (GP): Your local doctor - or family doctor - who will usually be the first person you see if you have a physical illness or emotional problem. They can help you directly but can also refer you on for specialist care or assessment. Many GPs have a community psychiatric nurse, psychiatrist or counsellor who works at the GP surgery.

General surgery - General surgery focuses mainly on the abdominal organs; stomach, gall bladder, small bowel, the colon, rectum and anus.

Gold Standards Framework (GSF) - A systematic evidence-based approach to optimising the care for patients nearing the end of life.

Governing Body - A group of people that is responsible for making the final decisions within the CCG and is accountable to NHS England and its member practices. An NHS Governing Body consists of elected members from its practices and representatives from Social Care, Public Health and secondary care.

GP-led Health Centre - Health centre, which offers appointments and walk-in services, led by GPs, for any member of the public. See also General Practitioners (GPs).

Gynaecology – Gynaecology is a service specifically for women, this includes the female reproductive systems.

Haematology - Haematology is the specialty responsible for the diagnosis and management of a wide range of benign and malignant disorders of the red and white blood cells, platelets and the coagulation system.

Haemophilia – Haemophilia is a medical condition in which the ability of the blood to clot is severely reduced, causing the patient to bleed severely from even a slight injury.

Health Executive Group (HEG) - HEG is a formal committee consisting of health and care leaders from across NHS organisations to discuss key matters around finance, operational delivery (including capacity and performance) and new initiatives and developments on the horizon.

Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) - A forum for local commissioners across the NHS, public health and social care, elected representatives, and representatives of HealthWatch to discuss how to work together to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes of the people in their areas. HWBB will take a lead role in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment; promote and support joined up commissioning across NHS social care and public health; support pooled budget arrangements with other agencies such as CCGs; and undertake a scrutiny role with respect to major service redesign.

Health Needs Assessment (HNA) - The process of exploring the relationship between health problems in a community and the resources available to address those problems in order to achieve a desired outcome.

Health inequality - The term used to describe the fact people living in deprived areas usually have poorer health than people living in more affluent areas. This can also apply to differences in the health of people of various ethnic groups.

Health Promotion (HP) - Programmes designed to inform the public about health risks and ways to prevent or reduce health problems; the programmes often target specific populations.

Healthwatch - Healthwatch England is the national independent consumer champion in health and care. It has significant statutory powers to ensure the voice of the consumer is strengthened and heard by those who commission, deliver and regulate health and care services.

Home Treatment Service (HTS) - For frail, elderly patients with multiple health conditions, this means receiving the best care, quickly, in their own home. Patients with the most urgent needs will be seen within two hours of a referral. If needed, patients will be referred easily and quickly to longer-term treatment, rehabilitation and community support.

Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) - this is a committee that is replicated across the country and scrutinises services which have an impact on the health of the local community and must be consulted about any proposals for a substantial change or development in health services. The committee’s membership is made up of locally elected councillors.

Hyper-acute stroke unit (HASU) – A hyper-acute unit is an intensive treatment and rehabilitation unit for stroke patients for the first three days after a stroke.

Independent Sector Healthcare Provider (ISHP) - a private sector healthcare company that is contracted by the NHS in the provision of healthcare or in the support of the provision of healthcare.

Inpatient – A patient who stays overnight and for an indeterminate period of time in hospital, either following an emergency admission or a planned procedure.

Integrated Care Pathway (ICP) - Improving the patient’s route for treatment through different health and social care systems by combining resources and co-ordinating working methods to prevent delays.

Integrated Care Records Service (ICRS) - This is part of the NHS’ national strategic programme for IT and comprises of the Electronic Health Record (lifelong patient health records) and the Electronic Patient Record (updating records at source).

Integrated Care System (ICS) - In this system, NHS organisations, in partnership with local councils and others, take collective responsibility for managing resources, delivering NHS standards, and improving the health of the population they serve.

Intensive care – Intensive care is a special medical treatment in which a patient who is critically ill is kept under constant observation.

Intensive Care Unit (ICU) - An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an Intensive Therapy Unit or Intensive Treatment Unit (ITU) or Critical Care Unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive treatment medicine.

Intermediate care - Nursing home, rehabilitation or home care services provided to ease the transition of the patient from hospital to home, from medical dependence to functional independence and to prevent unnecessary hospital admission and effective rehabilitation services closer to home.

Intervention - The term for the point at which a medical, social care or other professional gets involved in a person’s healthcare. Early intervention is when this happens before a person’s health is severely affected. This term is also used as a general name for a medical or nursing procedure.

IPC – Infection prevention and control.

Joint Committee of Clinical Commissioning Groups (JC CCG) - JCCCG committee meetings will be responsible for making decisions about any future proposals referred to it by Clincial Commissioning Groups. Decisions will be referred to this committee if they require a Lincolnshire approach, but most decisions about healthcare will continue to be taken locally.

The committee is held in public and chaired independently of the health organisations.

The JCCCG consists of GPs and lay members from each of the Clinical Commissioning Groups in SYB. Chief Executives from councils, representatives from district Councils and local Healthwatch also attend the meetings.

Learning Disabilities (LD) - A learning disability affects the way a person understands information and how they communicate. This means they can have difficulty: understanding new or complex information. learning new skills or coping independently.

Length of Stay (LOS) - The period of time a patient remains in a hospital or other health care facility as an inpatient.

Leukemia – Leukemia is a progressive disease in which the bone marrow and other blood-forming organs produce increased numbers of immature or abnormal white blood cells.

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) - the primary community healthcare provider in Lincolnshire delivering community-based services aimed at supporting people to manage their own health at home and reducing the need for people to go into hospital.

Local Authority (LA) - The governing body of a county, borough or district.

Local Area Agreement (LAA) - Local area agreement. An agreement between central government and a local area containing a set of improvement targets which local organisations are committed to achieving through a delivery plan. Actions will be set against each partner organisation which will work through a local strategic partnership.

Local Care Network (LCN) - LCNs bring together local health and social care providers (including the voluntary sector and citizen forums) to work collaboratively to address common challenges. By workng together, providers can look at the range of services that they provide for our populations and see how they can work better together to improve and further integrate them.

Local neonatal units (LNUs) - these provide special care for babies in their local area, except for those who are very unwell and need complex or longer-term intensive care. Many babies aged 27 weeks or over will receive their full care, including short periods of intensive care, within their LNU.

Local Resilience Forum (LRF) - LRFs are multi-agency partnerships made up of representatives from local public services, including the emergency services, local authorities, the NHS, the Environment Agency and others. These agencies are known as 'Category 1 Responders', as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act.

Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) - Non-statutory, multi-agency partnerships which match local authority boundaries. LSPs bring together at a local level the different parts of the public, private, community and voluntary sectors, allowing different initiatives and services to support one another so that they can work together more effectively.

Locum – A person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another. For example, a locum physician is a physician who works in the place of the regular physician when that physician is absent, or when a hospital/practice is short-staffed.

Long term condition (LTC): A long term or chronic condition or illness that cannot be cured (but can be managed through medication and/or therapy) and that people live with for a long time, such as diabetes, heart disease, dementia and asthma.

Mammography – Mammography is a technique using X-rays to diagnose and locate tumours of the breasts.

Maternity - Maternity is the period during pregnancy and shortly after childbirth.

Morbidity - Illness or disease.

Multi-disciplinary team (MDT): Sometimes referred to as a multidisciplinary group. These are teams of professionals from primary, community, social care and mental-health services who work together to plan a patient's care. Multi-disciplinary team can also refer to different clinical input from different departments on one site.

Musculo-skeletal pain - Pain that affects the muscles, tendons and ligaments along with the bones.

National Health Service (NHS) - Each of the four countries of the United Kingdom has a publicly funded health care system referred to as the NHS. The terms "National Health Service" or "NHS" are also used to refer to the four systems collectively. All of the services were founded in 1948, based on legislation passed in 1946, 1947 and 1948, by the Labour Government that had been elected in 1945.

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) - guides NHS staff about new health technologies including medicines, medical devices, techniques and procedures.

Neonatology - Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn.

Neurology - Neurology deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all conditions and diseases involving the central and peripheral nervous systems.

NHS 111 – NHS non-emergency response service.

NHS Constitution - The NHS Constitution has been created to protect the NHS and make sure it will always do the things it was set up to do in 1948 – to provide high-quality healthcare that is free to everyone at the point of access.

NHS continuing care - Care provided over an extended period of time to a person aged 18 or over to meet physical or mental health needs which have arisen as the result of disability, accident or illness.

NHS England - Local health systems are supported by seven integrated regional teams which play a major leadership role in the geographies they manage. They make decisions about how best to support and assure performance in their region, as well as supporting system transformation and the development of sustainability and transformation partnerships and integrated care systems (ICS). From 1 April 2019, NHS England and NHS Improvement are working together as a new single organisation to better support the NHS to deliver improved care for patients and the NHS Long Term Plan.

NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHS E/I) - NHS E/I is a non-departmental body in England, responsible for overseeing the NHS' foundation trusts and NHS trusts, as well as independent providers that provide NHS-funded care.

NHS Long-Term Plan (LTP) - The NHS LTP (formerly known as the 10-year plan) was published setting out key ambitions for the service over the next 10 years.

NHS trusts - These provide health care locally, mainly community health trusts, mental health trusts, acute hospital trusts, or ambulance service trusts. They are each managed by a board headed by a lay Chairman, with part-time non-executive directors who represent the local community and special interests, and the senior full time staff, including the Chief Executive.

Non-Clinical - Staff within the NHS who do not have clinical responsibilities, for example management, administrative, IT, HR.

Non elective – Non elective admission is an admission which is unplanned and urgent.

Non-complex elective surgery or medicine (or both): This includes hernia repairs, knee replacements and planned gallbladder operations, usually as day cases.

NPC - New primary care. A term used to encompass new models of delivery of primary care services, which include the development of federations/networks of practices with the ambition to improve the scale, range and quality of services delivered.

Obstetric - Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.

Occupational Therapy – The use of particular activities as an aid to recuperation from physical or mental illness.

On-call - A member of staff is on-call when, as part of an established arrangement with the Trust, they are available outside his or her normal working hours to work as and when required. This includes arrangements where a member of staff chooses to remain on Trust premises/accommodation in order to fulfil their on-call requirements, but it is not a Trust requirement for them to remain on-site.

On-call rota – this rota describes the shifts for staff who must be available for a specific period of time to provide care for patients.

Oncology – Oncology a service which aims to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

Ophthalmology - Ophthalmology is a branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases of the eye and visual system.

Orthopaedics – treatment focused on the care of muscles and bones, as well as joints, ligaments and  tendons.

Orthopaedic Surgery - Orthopaedic surgery is a specialty dealing with acute injuries, congenital and acquired disorders and chronic arthritic or overuse conditions of the bones, joints and their associated soft tissues, including ligaments, nerves and muscles.

Out of county – Out of county is the term used to describe patients that receive their NHS care from a provider other than a Lincolnshire NHS provider.

Out of Hospital Care - Services that are provided in GP Practice or community settings that give treatment to patients without them having to go into hospital.

Outcome - The result of a health intervention or treatment.

Outpatient / Outpatient Services (OP) - A patient who is not hospitalised for 24 hours or more but who attends a hospital, clinic or associated facility for scheduled diagnosis or treatment.

Paediatric Assessment Units (PAU) - hospital-based facilities where infants, children and young people with acute illness, injury or other urgent referrals from clinicians can be assessed, investigated, observed and treated with an expectation of discharge in less than 24 hours.

Paediatric care – Paediatric care is the care of infants, children, and adolescents from birth up to the age of 18, this includes physical, behaviour, and mental health issues.

Palliative care – A multidisciplinary approach to specialised medical care for people with serious and terminal illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of a serious illness. The goal of such therapy is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.

Partnerships - A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business or working partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) - Provides patients, carers and their families with confidential advice and support on NHS Services. All information provided to PALS is treated confidentially and no action will be taken without the agreement of the patient or the person concerned. PALS are accessible by phone, email or letter.

Patient feedback - Feedback received from the public via such methods as deliberative events. See also Deliberative Event.

Patient pathway or journey: This is the term used to describe the care a patient receives from start to finish of a set timescale, in different stages.  There can be integrated care pathways which include multi-disciplinary services for patient care (see MDT above).

Patient related outcome measures (PROMs) - Patients are asked about their health and quality of life before they have an operation and about their health and the effectiveness of the operation after it, helping the NHS measure and improve the quality of its care.

Patient Transport Service (PTS) - Transports patients with non-urgent conditions to andt from hospitals and day care centres and carries out non-urgent inter-hospital transfers.

Phlebotomy – The surgical opening or puncture of a vein in order to withdraw blood or to introduce a fluid.

Physiotherapy – The treatment of disease, injury, or deformity by physical methods such as massage, heat treatment, and exercise.

Planned – A planned admission is a procedure that has been arranged in advance.

Planned Care (PC) - Where a patient is referred for treatment and there is a pre-determined pathway of care.

Point of Delivery (POD) - The setting, within a hospital, where a patient receives care (for example A&E, Inpatient or Outpatients departments).

Pre-Consultation Business Case (PCBC) - a formal, structured written document submitted to those responsible for approving and/or funding a service development initiative or project.

Primary and acute care system (PACS) - The PACS model of care joins up GP, hospital, community and mental health services. The aim of a PACS is to improve the physical, mental, social health and wellbeing of its local population.

Primary care - Care provided by GP practices, dental practices, community pharmacies and high street optometrists. It is many people's first (primary) point of contact with the NHS. Around 90% of patient interaction is with primary care services.

Primary Care Networks (PCNs) - Primary care networks build on the core of current primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care. Clinicians describe this as a change from reactively providing appointments to proactively care for the people and communities they serve. Where emerging primary care networks are in place in parts of the country, there are clear benefits for patients and clinicians.

Primary healthcare team - Professionals working in or attached to general practices to provide a range of healthcare needs. Including GPs and community nursing staff.

Private provider – A private provider is a business, which provides medical treatments or medical services. Private providers do provide some NHS care.

Professional Advisory Group (PAG) - A panel which assesses doctors’ performance issues.

Protected characteristic - Nine types of characteristic are protected by the Equality Act 2010. They are: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race including nationality and ethnic origin; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation. Each of these characteristics should usually be considered as organisations: think through the general duty when formulating their policies; apply the EDS; carry out Equality Impact Analyses; and report on compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).

Provider - An organisation and legal entity, acting as a direct provider of health care services via an NHS contract. The following organisations may act as healthcare providers:

GP Practice

NHS Trust

NHS Foundation Trust

Registered non-NHS Provider (e.g. Independent Provider, Independent Sector Healthcare Provider etc)

Unregistered non-NHS Provider

Care Trust

Local Authorities with social care responsibilities

Other agencies

Public Health (PH) - The focus of public health intervention is to improve health and quality of life through prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions. This is done through surveillance of cases and health indicators, and through promotion of healthy behaviours. Examples of common public health measures include promotion of hand washing, breastfeeding, delivery of vaccinations, and distribution of condoms to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Public Health England (PHE) - PHE is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, and a distinct organisation with operational autonomy providing government, local government, the NHS, Parliament, industry and the public with evidence-based professional, scientific expertise and support.

Public Health Professionals - Professionals who specialise in the science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health amongst the public.

Quality impact assessment (QIA) - Undertaken on new plans, programmes, projects and savings schemes. They support quality governance by assessing the impact on quality of services provided, to inform and enable appropriate decision-making.

Quality, innovation, productivity and prevention (QIPP) - A tool developed by the Department of Health to drive quality improvement. It means we must always be looking for new and better ways of providing NHS services. Any savings realised are reinvested in frontline care.

Quality, Safety and Safeguarding Committee (QSSG) - Considers the quality, safety, safeguarding and patient experience performance of the CCG and commissioned services against statutory and mandatory standards, the NHS Constitution, the NHS Long Term Plan,annual commissioning and operational delivery plans. This includes identifying key areas of concern and agreeing remedial action where appropriate to ensure patient safety, experience and outcomes are maximised. Specifically, the committee will review the performance of the above areas and ensure appropriate action plans are in place and delivery is effectively monitored.

R

Radiology – Radiology is the science dealing with X-rays and other high-energy radiation, especially the use of such radiation for the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Radiotherapy – Radiotherapy is the treatment of disease, especially cancer, using X- rays or similar forms of radiation.

Referral Facilitation Service (RFS) - this service supports the referrals process and ensure that patients are cared for in the right setting at the right time. The service facilitates the patient referral process - from initial GP referral to first outpatient appointment.

Referral to Treatment (RTT) - RTT waiting time rights and pledges. RTT waiting time rights and pledges. Patients have a legal right under the NHS Constitution to access services within maximum referral to treatment waiting times, or for the NHS to take all reasonable steps to offer them a range of alternative providers if this is not possible.

Revenue costs – Revenue costs are recurring expenses that contribute to the running of a service. We expect to see these occur year after year.

Rheumatology - The diagnosis and therapy of rheumatic diseases including rheumatism, arthritis, and other disorders of the joints, muscles, and ligaments.

Risk Assessment - The determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and a recognised threat.

Risk Management - A systematic approach of identifying, analysing, evaluating, treating, monitoring and communicating risks associated with any activity, function or process.

Same day emergency care (SDEC) - SDEC is the provision of same day care for emergency patients who would otherwise be admitted to hospital.

Scrutiny committee - An all-party group of elected local councillors that reviews local NHS services and other issues. Introduced by the Local Government Act 2000.

Secondary Care: Patients whose needs are too complex to be managed in primary care are referred to more specialist services. Secondary care includes local hospitals and treatment given away from the hospital setting, such as mental health services, learning disability services and help for older people.

Self care:  Health decisions that people (as individuals or consumers) make for themselves and their families to get and stay physically and mentally fit.

Sepsis – Sepsis is the presence in tissues of harmful bacteria and their toxins, typically through infection of a wound.

Service level agreement (SLA) - An agreement between organisations and/or agencies setting out how services must be provided, what their standards will be and how monitoring will take place.

Service User - Anyone who uses or who has used a product or a service. This may mean current users or also include potential users.

Social Care - Social care services are normally run by local councils, sometimes with local NHS providers and organisations. Most of us are likely to become clients of social care services at one time or another but some of the main groups using the services include children or families who are under stress, people with disabilities, people with emotional or psychological difficulties, people with financial or housing problems and older people who need help with daily living activities.

Social Care Trust (SCT) - An organisation in the NHS that provides health and care support. Working closely with local authorities, SCT's may carry out a range of services, including social care, mental health services and primary care support.

Special care baby unit (SCBU) - sometimes called low dependency - This is for babies who do not need intensive care. Often, this will be for babies born after 32 weeks' gestation. Care can include: Monitoring their breathing or heart rate.

Specialist hospital: A hospital which provides specialist care for particular conditions for example cancer or lung disease.

Specialised Services - Specialised services are those provided in relatively few hospitals, accessed by comparatively small numbers of patients but with catchment populations of usually more than one million. These services tend to be located in specialised hospital trusts that can recruit a team of staff with the appropriate expertise and enable them to develop their skills.

Stakeholders - The NHS has a wide range of stakeholders that all share an interest in its work, including patients and the public, local and regional NHS organisations, professional membership organisations and Unions, local authorities and social care providers, central government, charities, and the voluntary and community sector.

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) - Written instructions intended to document how to perform a routine activity, to help ensure consistency and quality in how this activity is carried out.

Statutory organisations - Organisations with powers to fund or provide services, such as local authorities and NHS trusts.

Stroke: A stroke is the sudden death of brain cells in a particular area due to inadequate blood flow.

Sub-acute care - An alternative term for intermediate care.

Sustainability and Transformation plan (STP) - All local health and care systems in England will produce a multi-year Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), showing how local services will evolve and become sustainable over the next five years – ultimately delivering the Five Year Forward View vision of better health, better patient care and improved NHS efficiency. The local geographical areas responsible for the delivery of the STPs are not statutory bodies, but collective discussion forums which aim to bring together health and care leaders to support the delivery of improved health and care based on the needs of local populations. They do not replace existing local bodies, or change local accountabilities.

Surgical Assessment Unit (SAU) - Assesses patients who have a confirmed or probable surgical condition. Patients are referred to the SAU via their GP or are admitted via the emergency department. Depending on your clinical condition and care needs, you will either be assessed in the clinic or admitted to another ward.

Tertiary Care - Service provided by specialist hospitals which have diagnostic and treatment facilities not available at general hospitals, or given by doctors who are uniquely qualified to treat unusual disorders that do not respond to therapy available at acute hospitals. It can also include hospice care for people who are terminally ill.

Therapy Services - These are provided by allied health professionals including dieticians, hearing therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, podiatrists (chiropodists) and speech and language therapists.

Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) - also known as a ‘mini stroke’ and caused by a temporary disruption in the blood supply to part of the brain. This can cause sudden symptoms similar to stroke, such as speech and visual disturbance, and numbness or weakness in the face, arms and legs.

Trauma and orthopaedics - Trauma and orthopaedics are the surgical services which treat injuries and conditions of the musculoskeletal system (the bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves).

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) - United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust runs County Hospital Louth, Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Skegness and District Hospital, and Grantham and District Hospital.

Unplanned admission – An unplanned admission is an admission which is unforeseen and urgent, or an emergency.

Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) - UEC services perform a critical role in keeping the population healthy. Both urgent and emergency care services play a specific part in supporting patients to receive the right care, by the right person, as quickly as possible.  To help relieve pressure on A&E departments and to ensure patients get the right care, it is important to understand the difference between urgent and emergency care:

Emergency: Life threatening illnesses or accidents which require immediate, intensive treatment. Services that should be accessed in an emergency include ambulance (via 999) and emergency departments.

Urgent: An illness or injury that requires urgent attention but is not a life-threatening situation. Urgent care services include a phone consultation through the NHS111 Clinical Assessment Service, pharmacy advice, out-of-hours GP appointments, and/or referral to an urgent treatment centre (UTC). If unsure what service is needed, NHS111 can help to assess and direct to the appropriate service/s.

With increasing pressure on emergency services, and as technology and the needs of the population change, the UEC system must also change to ensure a service fit for the future.

 Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) GP-led, open at least 12 hours-a-day, every day, offer appointments that can be booked through NHS111 or through a GP referral, and are equipped to diagnose and deal with many of the most common ailments people attend A&E for.

Urology - Urology is the field of medicine that focuses on diseases of the urinary tract and the male reproductive tract.​​​​​​

Vascular – Relating to, affecting, or consisting of a vessel or vessels, especially those which carry blood.

Veto - A veto is a constitutional right to reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body.

Walk-in Centre: Walk-in services treat minor illnesses and injuries that do not need a visit to A&E.

Whole system approach - Term for a strategic, integrated approach to planning and delivering services. A local whole system of care covers all local health and social service provision and any other service that impacts upon health and social care.

Walk-in centres (WIC) - Nurse-led drop-in centres managed by the NHS that provide minor treatments, self-help advice and information on the NHS, social services and other local healthcare organisations.

Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) - Implementing the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) is a requirement for NHS commissioners and NHS healthcare providers including independent organisations, through the NHS standard contract as part of aims to improve the (equal) access to career opportunities and fair treatment in the workplace among employees from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds.