ACRONYMS & GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Mar 2026 - v9.2
2WW - Two week wait
A&E - Accident and Emergency: A walk-in facility at hospitals that provides urgent treatment for serious injuries and conditions
A4C - Agenda for Change. NHS system of pay that is linked to the job content, and the skills and knowledge staff apply to perform jobs
ACE - A Commitment to Excellence — Accreditation scheme previously known as 15
Step Reviews. Replaced by Putting Patients First in March 2026
Acute - Used to describe a disorder or symptom that comes on suddenly and needs urgent treatment
AAU - Acute Assessment Unit
Accounting Officer - The NHS Act 2006 designates the chief executive of an NHS foundation trust as the accounting officer.
Acute Hospital Trust - Hospitals in England are managed by acute trusts
(Foundation Trusts). Acute trusts ensure hospitals provide high-quality healthcare and check that they spend their money efficiently. They also decide how a hospital will develop, so that services improve
Admission - A term used to describe when someone requires a stay in hospital, and admitted to a ward
Adult Social Care - Provide personal and practical support to help people live their lives by supporting individuals to maintain their independence and dignity, and to make sure they have choice and control. These services are provided through the local authorities
Advocate - An advocate is someone who supports people, at times acting on behalf of the individual
AGC - Audit & Governance Committee
AGM - Annual General Meeting
AHP - Allied Health Professional
ALoS - Average Length of Stay
AMM - Annual Members' Meeting
AO - Accounting Officer
AoMRC - Association of Medical Royal Colleges
AOP - Annual Operating Plan
ARC - the Governor Appointments & Remuneration Committee has delegated authority to consider the appointment and remuneration of the Group Chair, Vice Chair
and Non-Executive Directors on behalf of the Council of Governors, and provide advice and recommendations to the full Council in respect of these matters
ARM - Annual Review Meeting for COG
Audit Committee - A Trust's own committee, monitoring its performance, probity and accountability
ARGC - Audit Risk & Governance Committees-in-Committee
Auditor - The internal auditor helps organisations (particularly boards of directors) to achieve their objectives by systematically evaluating and proposing improvements relating to the effectiveness of their risk management, internal controls and governance processes. The external auditor gives a professional opinion on the quality of the financial statements and report on issues that have arisen during the annual audit
BAF - Board Assurance Framework
BAME - Black and Minority Ethnic: Defined by ONS as including White Irish, White other (including White asylum seekers and refugees and Gypsies and Travellers), mixed (White & Black Caribbean, White & Black African, Mite & Asian, any other mixed background), Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, any other Asian background). Black or Black British (Caribbean, African or any other Black background), Chinese, and any other ethnic group
Benchmarking - Comparing performance or measures to best standards or practices or averages
BLS - Basic Life Support
BMA - British Medical Association
Boards-in-Common - The meeting of the Boards of Directors for both NLaG and
HUTH
Board of Directors (BOD) - A Board of Directors is the executive body responsible for the operational management and conduct of an NHS Foundation Trust. It includes a Non-Executive Group Chair, Non-Executive Directors, the Group Chief Executive and other Executive Directors. The Group Chair and Non-Executive Directors are in the majority on the Board
Caldicott Guardian - The person with responsibility for the policies that safeguard the confidentiality of patient information
CAMHS - Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services work with children and young people experiencing mental health problems
CAP - Collaborative Acute Providers
CPE - Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales
Care Plan - A signed written agreement setting out how care will be provided. A care plan may be written in a letter or using a special form
CCG - Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were NHS organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in each of their local areas in England. On 1 July 2022 they were abolished and replaced by Integrated Care Systems as a result of the Health and Care Act 2022.
CDC - Community Diagnostic Centre
CFC - Charitable Funds Committee
CFO - Chief Financial Officer
C Diff - Clostridium difficile is a type of bacteria. Clostridium difficile infection usually causes diarrhoea and abdominal pain, but it can be more serious
CEICEO - Chief Executive Officer
CF - Cash Flow
CIP - the Cost Improvement Programme is a vital part of Trust finances. Every year a number of schemes/projects are identified, The Trust have an agreed CIP process which has been influenced by feedback from auditors and signed off at the CIP & Transformation Programme Board
Clinical Audit - Regular measurement and evaluation by health professionals of the clinical standards they are achieving
Clinical Governance - A system of steps and procedures through which NHS organisations are accountable for improving quality and safeguarding high standards
CMO - Chief Medical Officer
CMP or C&MP - Capital & Major Projects Committees-in-Common
Code of Governance - NHS England has issued this Code of Governance (the code) to help NHS providers deliver effective corporate governance, contribute to better organisational and system performance and improvement, and ultimately discharge their duties in the best interests of patients, service users and the public.
COG - Council of Governors. Each NHS Foundation Trust is required to establish a
Board of Governors. A group of Governors who are either elected by Members (Public Members elect Public Governors and Staff Members elect Staff Governors) or are nominated by partner organisations. The Council of Governors is the Trust's direct link to the local community and the community's voice in relation to its forward planning. It is ultimately accountable for the proper use of resources in the Trust and therefore has important powers including the appointment and removal of the Chair
Commissioners - Commissioners specify in detail the delivery and performance requirements of providers such as NHS Foundation Trusts, and the responsibilities of each party, through legally binding contracts. NHS Foundation Trusts are required to meet their obligations to commissioners under their contracts. Any disputes about contract performance should be resolved in discussion between commissioners and NHS Foundation Trusts, or through their dispute resolution procedures
Committee - A small group intended to remain subordinate to the board it reports to Committees-in-Common (CiC) - NLaG and HUTH are implementing a governance structure which will ensure that they have single focussed discussions on major areas of sen./ice change. These discussions would take place in the Committees in Common
Co-morbidity - The presence of one or more disorders in addition to a primary disorder, for example, dementia and diabetes
Constituency - Membership of each NHS Foundation Trust is divided into constituencies that are defined in each trust's constitution. An NHS Foundation Trust must have a public constituency and a staff constituency, and may also have a patient, carer and/or service users' constituency. Within the public constituency, an NHS Foundation Trust may have a "rest of England" constituency. Members of the various constituencies vote to elect Governors and can also stand for election themselves
Constitution - A set of rules that define the operating principles for each NHS Foundation Trust. It defines the structure, principles, powers and duties of the trust
COP - Code of Practice
CPA - Care Programme Approach
CPD - Continuing Professional Development. It refers to the process of tracking and documenting the skills, knowledge and experience that is gained both formally and informally at work, beyond any initial training. It's a record of what is experienced, teamed and then applied
CPIS - Child Protection Information Sharing
CPN - Community Psychiatric Nurse
CPO - Chief People Officer
CQC - Care Quality Commission - is the independent regulator of health and social care in England, aiming to make sure better care is provided for everyone in hospitals, care homes and people's own homes. Their responsibilities include registration, review and inspection of services; their primary aim is to ensure that quality and safety are met on behalf of patients
CQUIN - Commissioning for Quality and Innovation are measures which determine whether we achieve quality goals or an element of the quality goal. These achievements are on the basis of which CQUIN payments are made. The CQUIN payments framework encourages care providers to share and continually improve how care is delivered and to achieve transparency and overall improvement in healthcare. For the patient — this means better experience, involvement and outcomes
CSPO - Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer
CSU - Commissioning Support Unit support clinical commissioning groups by providing business intelligence, health and clinical procurement services, as well as back-office administrative functions, including contract management
Datix - is the patient safety web-based incident reporting and risk management software, widely used by NHS staff to report clinical incidents (Replaced by Ulysses in 2023)
DBS - Disclosure & Barring Service (replaces Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)) DD - Due Diligence
Depreciation - A reduction in the value of a fixed asset over its useful life as opposed to recording the cost as a single entry in the income and expenditure account.
DGH - District General Hospitals
DH or DOH - Department of Health — A Government Department that aims to improve the health and well-being of people in England
DHSC - Department of Health and Social Care is a govemment department responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England and oversees the NHS
DN - District Nurse, a nurse who visits and treats patients in their homes, operating in a specific area or in association with a particular general practice surgery or health centre
DNA - Did not attend: when a patient misses a health or social care appointment without prior notice. The appointment is wasted and therefore a cost incurred
DNR - Do not resuscitate
DOF - Director of Finance
DOI - Declarations of Interest
DOLS - Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
DOSA - Day of Surgery Admission
DPA - Data Protection Act
DPH - Director of Public Health
DPoW - Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby
DTOCS - Delayed Transfers of Care
EBITDA - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation. An approximate measure of a company's operating cash flow based on data from the company's income statement
ECC - Emergency Care Centre
ED - Executive Directors or Emergency Department
EDI - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
EHR - Electronic Health Record
EIA - Equality Impact Assessment
Elective admission - A patient admitted to hospital for a planned clinical intervention, involving at least an overnight stay
Emergency (non-elective) admission - An unplanned admission to hospital at short notice because of clinical need or because alternative care is not available
ENT - Ear, nose and throat treatment. An ENT specialist is a physician trained in the medical and surgical treatment of the ears, nose throat, and related structures of the head and neck
Eol - End of Life
EPR - Electronic Patient Record
ERF - Elective Recovery Fund
ERoY - East Riding of Yorkshire
ESR - Electronic staff Record
Executive Directors - Board-level senior management employees of the NHS Foundation Trust who are accountable for carrying out the work of the organisation. For example, the Chief Executive and Finance Director, of a NHS Foundation Trust who sit on the Board of Directors. Executive Directors have decision-making powers and a defined set of responsibilities, thus playing a key role in the day to day running of the Trust.
FD - Finance Director
FFT - Friends and Family Test: is an important opportunity for patients to provide feedback on the services that provided care and treatment. This feedback will help NHS England to improve services for everyone
FOI - Freedom of information. The FOI Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information.
FRC - Financial Risk Rating
FT - Foundation Trust. NHS foundation trusts are public benefit corporations authorised under the NHS 2006 Act, to provide goods and services for the purposes of the health service in England. They are part of the NHS and provide over half of all NHS hospital, mental health and ambulance services. NHS foundation trusts were created to devolve decision making from central government to local organisations and communities. They are different from NHS trusts as they: have greater freedom to decide, with their governors and members, their own strategy and the way services are run; can retain their surpluses and borrow to invest in new and improved services for patients and service users; and are accountable to, among others, their local communities through their members and governors FTE - Full Time Equivalent
FTGA - Foundation Trust Governors' Association
FTN - Foundation Trust Network
FTSUG - Freedom to Speak Up Guardians help to protect patient safety and the quality of care, whilst improving the experience of workers
FY - Financial Year
GAG - the Governor Assurance Group has oversight of areas of Trust governance and assurance frameworks in order to provide added levels of assurance to the work of the Council of Governors (Replaced by Member and Public Engagement & Assurance Group (MPEAG) from April 2024)
GDH - Goole & District Hospital
GDP - Gross Domestic Product
GDPR - General Data Protection Regulations
GIRFT - Getting It Right First Time
GMC - General Medical Council: the organisation that licenses doctors to practice medicine in the UK
GP - General Practitioner - a doctor who does not specialise in any particular area of medicine, but who has a medical practice in which he or she treats all types of illness (family doctor)
Governance - This refers to the "rules" that govern the internal conduct of an organisation by defining the roles and responsibilities of groups (e.g. Board of Directors, Council of Governors) and individuals (e.g. Chair, Chief Executive Officer, Finance Director) and the relationships between them. The governance arrangements of NHS Foundation Trusts are set out in the constitution and enshrined in the Licence
Governors - Elected or appointed individuals who represent Foundation Trust
Members or stakeholders through a Council of Governors
Group Executive Team — assists the Chief Executive in the performance of his duties, including recommending strategy, implementing operational plans and budgets, managing risk, and prioritising and allocating resources
Group Model - Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (HUTH) and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLaG) will still exist as separate legal entities but will operate within a singular Group model and one Group Executive Team
GUM - Genito Urinary Medicine: usually used as the name of a clinic treating sexually transmitted disease
HI - First Half (financial or calendar year)
H2 - Second Half (financial or calendar year)
HAS - Humber Acute Services
HCA - a Health Care Assistant is someone employed to support other health care professions
HCAI - Healthcare Acquired Infections or Healthcare Associated Infections, are those acquired as a result of health care
HCCP - Humber Clinical Collaboration Programme
HDU - Some hospitals have High Dependency Units (HDUs), also called step down, progressive and intermediate care units. HDUs are wards for people who need more intensive observation, treatment and nursing care than is possible in a general ward but slightly less than that given in intensive care
Health inequalities - Variations in health identified by indicators such as infant mortality rate, life expectancy which are associated with socio-economic status and other determinants
Healthwatch England - Independent consumer champion for health and social care. It also provides a leadership and support role for the local Healthwatch network.
HEE - Health Education England
HES - Hospital Episode Statistics — the national statistical data warehouse for England of the care provided by the NHS. It is the data source for a wide range of healthcare analysis for the NHS, government and many other organisations and individuals
HOBS - High Observations Beds
HOSC - Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Committee that looks at the work of the clinical commissioning groups, and National Health Service (NHS) trusts, and the local area team of NHS England. It acts as a 'critical friend by suggesting ways that health related services might be improve
HR - Human Resources
HSCA - Health & Social Care Act 2012
HSMR - Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio
HTF - Health Tree Foundation (Trust charity)
HTFTC - Health Tree Foundation Trustees' Committee
Human Resources (HR) - A term that refers to managing "human capital", the people of an organisation
Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership - The Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership is a collaboration of health, social care, community and charitable organisations
HW - Healthwatch
HWB/HWBB - Health & Wellbeing Board
HWNL - Healthwatch North Lincolnshire
HWNEL - Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire
HWER - Healthwatch East Riding
H&WB Board - Health and Wellbeing Board. A statutory forum where political, clinical, professional and community leaders from across the care and health system come together to improve the health and wellbeing of their local population and reduce health inequalities. The joint strategy developed for this Board is based on the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. Each ICB has its own Health and Wellbeing Board.
HUTH - Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
IAAU - Integrated Acute Assessment unit
IAPT - Improved Access to Psychological Therapies
IBP - Integrated Business Plan
I & E - Income and Expenditure. A record showing the amounts of money coming into and going out of an organisation, during a particular period.
ICB - Integrated Care Board
ICP - Integrated Care Partnership
ICS - Integrated Care Systems - Partnership between NHS organisations, local councils and others, who take collective responsibility for managing resources. delivering NHS standards, and improving the health of the population they serve. There are 44 ICS 'footprint' areas. The size of a system is typically a population of 13 million.
ICU - Intensive Care Unit
IG - Information Governance
Integrated Care - Joined up care across local councils, the NHS, and other partnersIt is about giving people the support they need, joined up across local councils, the
NHS, and other partners. It removes traditional divisions between hospitals and family doctors, between physical and mental health, and between NHS and council services. The aim is that people can live healthier lives and get the care and treatment they need, in the right place, at the right time.
IP - Inpatient
IPC - Infection Prevention & Control
IPR - Integrated Performance Report
IT - Information Technology
ITU - Intensive Therapy Unit
JAG - Joint Advisory Group accreditation
JHOSH - Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Joint committees - In a joint committee, each organisation can nominate one or more representative member(s). The joint committee has delegated authority to make binding decisions on behalf of each member organisation without further reference back to their board.
JSNA - Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
KLOE - Key Line of Enquiry
KPI - Key Performance Indicator. Targets that are agreed between the provider and commissioner of each service, which performance can be tracked against
KSF - Knowledge and Skills Framework- This defines and describes the knowledge and skills which NHS staff (except doctors and dentists) need to apply in their work in order to deliver quality services LA — NHS Leadership Academy
LATs - Local Area Teams
LD - Leaming Difficulties
Lead Governor - The Lead Governor has a role in facilitating direct communication between NHS England and the NHS foundation trust's council of governors. This will be in a limited number of circumstances and, in particular, where it may not be appropriate to communicate through the normal channels, which in most cases will be via the Chair or the Trust Secretary, if one is appointed.
LETB - Local Education and Training Board
LGBTQ+ - Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, queer, intersex, pansexual, two-spirit (2S), androgynous and asexual. LHE - Local Health Economy
LHW - Local Healthwatch
LiA - Listening into Action
Licence - The NHS provider licence contains obligations for providers of NHS services that will allow Monitor to fulfil its new duties in relation to: setting prices for NHS-funded care in partnership with NHS England: enabling integrated care; preventing anti-competitive behaviour which is against the interests of patients; supporting commissioners in maintaining service continuity; and enabling Monitor to continue to oversee the way that NHS Foundation Trusts are governed. It replaces the Terms of Authorisation
LMC - the Local Medical Council is the local representative committee of NHS GPs which represents individual GPs and GP practices as a whole in their localities
Local Health Economy - This term refers to the different parts of the NHS working together within a geographical area. It includes GP practices and other primary care contractors (e.g. pharmacies, optometrists, dentists), mental health and learning disabilities services, hospital services, ambulance services, primary care trusts (England) and local health boards (Wales). It also includes the other partners who contribute to the health and well-being of local people — including local authorities, community and voluntary organisations and independent sectors bodies involving in commissioning, developing or providing health services
LOS - length of stay for patients is the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation
LTC - Long Term Condition
M&A -Mergers & Acquisitions
MCA - Mental Capacity Act
MDT - Multi-disciplinary Team
Members - As part of the application process to become an NHS Foundation Trust, NHS trusts are required to set out detailed proposals for the minimum size and composition of their membership. Anyone who lives in the area, works for the trust, or has been a patient or service user there, can become a Member of an NHS Foundation Trust, subject to the provisions of the trust's constitution. Members can.' receive information about the NHS Foundation Trust and be consulted on plans for future development of the trust and its services; elect representatives to serve on the Council of Governors; and stand for election to the Council of Governors
MHA - Mental Health Act
MI - Major Incident
MIU - Major Incident unit
MLU - Midwifery led unit
Monitor - Monitor was the sector regulator of health care services in England, now replaced by NHS Improvement as of April 2016 (which has since merged with NHS England)
MPEAG - Membership and Public Engagement & Assurance Group is responsible for overseeing the development, implementation and regular review of the Trust's Member and Public Engagement Strategy. This incorporates oversight of member recruitment and communication, public engagement initiatives and mechanisms to feed back the views of members and the public to the COG, and Trust Board.
MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MRSA - Metacillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is a common type of bacteria that lives harmlessly in the nose or on the skin
MSA - Mixed Sex Accommodation
National Tariff - This payment system covers national prices, national currencies, national variations, and the rules, principles and methods for local payment arrangements
NCTR - No Criteria to Reside
NED — Non-Executive Director
Neighbourhoods - Areas typically covering a population of 30-50,000, where groups of GPs and community-based services work together to coordinate care, support and prevention and wellbeing initiatives. Primary care networks and multidisciplinary community teams form at this level.
Neonatal — Relates to newborn babies, up to the age of four weeks
Nephrology - The early detection and diagnosis of renal (kidney) disease and the long-term management of its complications.
Neurology - Study and treatment of nerve systems.
NEWS - National Early Warning Score
Never Event - Serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should not occur if the available preventable measures have been implemented
NEL - North East Lincolnshire
NGO - National Guardians Offce for the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian
NHS - National Health Service
NHS 111 - NHS 111 makes it easier to access local NHS healthcare services in England. You can call 111 when you need medical help fast but it's not a 999 emergency. NHS 111 is a fast and easy way to get the right help, whatever the time
NHS Confederation - is the membership organisation that brings together, supports and speaks for the whole healthcare system in England, Wales and Northem Ireland.
NHS ICS Body - ICS NHS bodies will be established as new organisations that bind partner organisations together in a new way with common purpose. They will lead integration within the NHS, bringing together all those involved in planning and providing NHS services to take a collaborative approach to agreeing and delivering ambitions for the health of their population
NHSE - NHS England. NHS England provides national leadership for the NHS. Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we promote high quality health and care for all, and support NHS organisations to work in partnership to deliver better outcomes for our patients and communities, at the best possible value for taxpayers and to continuously improve the NHS. We are working to make the NHS an employer of excellence and to enable NHS patients to benefit from world leading research, innovation and technology
NHS Health and Care Partnership - a locally-determined coalition will bring together the NHS, local government and partners, including representatives from the wider public space, such as social care and housing.
NHSLA - NHS Litigation Authority. Handles negligence claims and works to improve risk management practices in the NHS
NHSP - NHS Professionals
NHS Providers - This is the membership organisation and trade association for all NHS provider trusts
HSTDA - NHS Trust Development Authority
NICE - the National institute for Health and Care Excellence is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health
NL - North Lincolnshire
NLaG - Northern Lincolnshire & Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
NMC - Nursing & Midwifery Council
NOF — National Oversight Framework
Non-Elective Admission (Emergency) - An unplanned admission to hospital at short notice because of clinical need or because alternative care is not available
NPIP — National Provider Improvement Programme
NQB - National Quality Board
NSFs— National Service Frameworks
OBC - Outline Business Case
OFT Office of Fair Trading
OLU -Obstetric led unit
OOH Out of Hours
OP — Outpatients
OPA — Outpatient Appointment
Operational management - Operational management concerns the day-to-day organisation and coordination of services and resources; liaison with clinical and non-clinical staff; dealing with the public and managing complaints; anticipating and resolving service delivery issues; and planning and implementing change OSCs — Overview and Scrutiny Committees
PALS - Patient Advice and Liaison Service. All NHS Trusts have a PALS team who are there to help patients navigate and deal with the NHS. PALS can advise and help with any non-clinical matter (eg accessing treatment, information about local services, resolving problems etc)
PADR - Personal Appraisal and Devetopment Review - The aim of a Performance Appraisal Development Review is to confirm what is required of an individuat within their role, feedback on how they are progressing, to identify any learning and development needs through the use of the and to agree a Personal Development Plan
PAU — Paediatric assessment unit
PbR - Payment by Results
PCN - Primary Care Network: Groups of GP practices, working with each other and with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local areas. Led by a clinical director who may be a GP, general practice nurse, clinical pharmacist or other clinical profession working in general practice.
PCT - Primary Care Trust
PDC — Public Dividend Capital
PEWS - Paediatric Early Warning Score
PEF — Performance, Estates & Finance Committees-in-Common
PFI — Private Finance Initiative
PIDMAS — Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid System
PLACE - Patient Led Assessment of Controlled Environment are annual assessments of inpatient healthcare sites in England that have more than 10 beds. It is a benchmarking tool to ensure improvements are made in the non-clinical aspects of patient care, such as cleanliness, food and infection control
Place - Town or district within an ICS, which typically covers a population of 250,000 — 500 000 people. Often coterminous with a council or borough.
Place Based Working enables NHS, councils and other organisations to collectively take responsibility for local resources and population health
PMO — Programme Management Office
Population Health Management (PHM) - A technique for using data to design new models of proactive care, delivering improvements in health and wellbeing vå)ich make best use of the collective resources. Population health aims to improve physical and mental health outcomes, promote wellbeing and reduce health inequalities across an entire population.
PPE - Personal Protective Equipment
PPG - Patient Participation Group. Patient Participation Group is a group of people who are patients of the surgery and want to help it work as well as it can for patients, doctors and staff
PPI — Patient and Public Involvement
PRIM - Performance Review Improvement Meeting
PROMS — Patient Recorded Outcome Measures
Provider Collaborative - Arrangements between NHS organisations with similar missions (e.g., an acute collaborative). They can atso be organised around a 'place', With acute, community and mental health providers forming one collaborative. It is expected that all NHS providers will need to be part of one or more provider collaborates, as part of the new legislation.
PSF - Provider Sustainability Fund
PST — Patient Suitability for Transfer
PTL - Patient Transfer List
PTS — Patient Transport Services
Putting Patients First — New ward accreditation programme rolled out on 23 March 2026. Previously known as A Commitment to Excellence (ACE) and 15 Step Reviews.
QA — Quality Accounts. A QA is a written report that providers of NHS services are required to submit to the Secretary of State and publish on the NHS Choices website each June summarising the quality of their services during the previous financial year or Quality Assurance
QGAF — Quality govemance assurance framework
QI — Quality Improvement
QIA — Quality Impact Assessment
QIPP — Quality Innovation, Productivity and Prevention. QPP is a national, regional and local level programme designed to support clinical teams and NHS organisations to improve the quality of care they deliver while making efficiency savings that can be reinvested into the NHS
QOF — Quality and Outcomes Framework. The Quality and Outcomes Framework is a system designed to remunerate general practices for providing good quality care to their patients, and to help fund work to further improve the quality of health care delivered. It is a fundamental part of the General Medicat Services (GMS) Contract, introduced in 2004.
QRP - Quality & Risk Profile
Q&SC — Quality & Safety Committees-in-Common
QSIR — Quality & Service Improvement Report
R&D — Research & Development
RAG — Red, Amber, Green classifications
RCA — Root Cause Analysis RCGP — Royal College of General Practitioners
RCN — Royal College of Nursing
RCP — Royal College of Physicians
RCPSYCH — Royal College of Psychiatrists
RCS — Royal College of Surgeons
RGN — Registered General Nurse
RIDDOR — Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, Dangerous Occurrences Regulation.
Regulates the statutory obligation to report deaths, injuries, diseases and "dangerous occurrences", including near misses, that take place at work or in connection with work
Risk Assessment Framework - The Risk Assessment Framework replaced the Compliance Framework during 2013/14 in the areas of financial oversight of providers of key NHS services — not just NHS Foundation Trusts — and the governance of NHS Foundation Trusts Rol — Register of Interests
Rol — Return on Investment
RTT — Referrals to Treatment
SaLT - Speech and Language Therapy
SDEC — Same day emergency care
Secondary Care - NHS trusts and NHS Foundation Trusts are the organisations responsible for running hospitals and providing secondary care. Patients must first be referred into secondary care by a primary care provider, such as a GP
Serious Incident/event (St) - An incident that occurred during NHS funded healthcare which resulted in serious harm, a never event, or another form of serious negative activity
Service User/s - People who need health and social care for mental health problems. They may live in their own home, stay in care, or be cared for in hospital SGH — Scunthorpe General Hospital
SHCA — Senior Health Care Assistant
SHMI - Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator
Sl - Serious Incident: An out of the ordinary or unexpected event (not exclusively clinical issues) that occurs on NHS premises or in the provision of an NHS or a commissioned service, with the potential to cause serious harm
SIB - System Improvement Board
SID Senior Independent Director One of the non-executive directors should be appointed as the SID by the Board of Directors, in consultation with the Council of Governors. The SID should act as the point of contact with the Board of Directors if Governors have concerns which approaches through normal channels have failed to resolve or for which such normal approaches are inappropriate. The SID may also act as the point of contact with the Board of Directors for Governors when they discuss, for example, the chair's performance appraisal and his or her remuneration and other allowances. More detail can be found in the Code of Governance
SJR - Structured Judgement Review
SLA — Service Level Agreement
SLM/R — Service Line Management/Reporting
SNCT - Safer Nursing Care Tool
Social Care - This term refers to care services which are provided by local authorities to their residents
SPA — Single Point of Access
SOS — Secretary of State
SSA — Same Sex Accommodation
Strategic Management - Strategic management involves setting objectives for the organisa Uon and managing people, resource and budgets towards reaching these goals
Statutory Requirement - A requirement prescribed by legislation
SUI — Serious untoward incident/event: An incident that occurred during NHS funded healthcare which resulted in serious harm, a never event, or another form of serious negative activity
T&C — Terms and Conditions
TCI -To Come In
Terms of Authorisation - Previously, when an NHS Foundation Trust was authorised, Monitor set out a number of terms with which the trust had to comply. The terms Of authorigation have now been replaced by the NHS provider licence, and NHS Foundation Trusts must comply with the conditions of the licence
TMB - Trust Management Board
Third Sector - Also known as voluntary sector/ non-profit sector or "not-for-profit" sector. These organisations are non-governmental
TOR — Terms of Reference
Trauma - The effect on the body of a wound or violent impact
Triage - A system which sorts medical cases in order of urgency to determine how quickly patients receive treatment, for instance in accident and emergency departments
TTO To Take Out
ULHT — United Lincolnshire Hospital NHS Trust
ULYSSES - Risk Management System to report Incidents and Risk (Replaced DATIX in 2023)
UTC - Urgent Treatment Centre
Voluntary Sector - Also known as third sector/non-profit sector or "not-for-profit" sector. These organisations are non-governmental
Vote of No Confidence - A motion put before the Board which, if passed, weakens the position of the individual concerned VTE — Venous Thromboembolism
WEC — Workforce, Education & Culture Committee-in-Common
WRES - Workforce Race Equality Standards
WDES - Workforce Disability Equality Standards
WTE - Whole time equivalent
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