Master Glossary

ACBS

Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances. The committee responsible for advising approved Prescribers about the Prescribing of certain foodstuffs and toiletries.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/advisory-committee-on-borderline-substances .

Access Level

This describes the level of access the Citizen has to a Patient Record as per the requirements in View Record - Citizen.

Account Linkage

A method of linking accounts between two or more suppliers that represent the same individual so that the providers can communicate on behalf of that individual.

Account Linkage Key

The 15 or 16 digit code enabling Account Linkage which is provided by the Practice when requesting access to online services.

ACG

Adjusted Clinical Group.  Johns Hopkins ACG system is a widely-used population health management and risk stratification tool.

Active ingredients

The part of a substance or compound that produces its chemical or biological effect.

For example, Ibuprofen is the active ingredient in some pain medication.

Active Patient

A patient registered with a General Practice (either Fully Registered or under another Registration Type such as Temporary Registration or Private Patient) such that the patient registration date of Deduction and the registration end date are either NULL or a date in the future.

Acute Prescribing

An acute prescription is one which has (usually) been given as a one-off and is not intended to be given again and is not added to your repeat prescription records.

Acute Prescription

See Acute Prescribing.

Acute Issue

See Acute Prescribing.

Administrative request

A request for support in relation to administrative queries (e.g. update personal details, request a fit note or test results) by a Patient/Service User.

Adult

An individual whose age is 18 years or older.

Advice and Guidance

Enables Health or Care Professionals to request and receive support from other Health or Care Professionals.

A&E

Accident and Emergency. A department (also sometimes known as the emergency department or casualty) that deals with urgent or life-threatening emergencies.

AHRA

Access to Historic Records and Audit which may be needed for investigation purposes.

AIDC

Automatic Identification and Data Capture refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering them directly into computer systems, without human involvement.

Alert

A message or indicator which is displayed to the user in a prominent manner. An alert provides important information and may require acknowledgement by the user.

Alternate Authorising Prescribers

A prescriber specified for an individual to be selected as the authoriser for prescriptions produced by that same individual.

AMP

Actual Medicinal Product (AMP) is a single dose unit of a finished dose form (unless the product is presented as a continuous dosage form), attributable to an identified supplier that contains a specified amount of an ingredient substance. It describes an actual product which is known to have been available linked to the name of a particular supplier, for example ‘Aspirin 300mg caplets (The Boots Company Plc)'.

AMPP

Actual Medicinal Product Pack describes an actual product which is known to have been available linked to both the name of a particular supplier and information on the pack size of the product, for example ‘Tenormin 100mg tablets (xxxx UK Ltd) 28 tablet 2 x 14 tablets'.

ANPN

Approved Non-Proprietary Name - used for the classification of drugs and is controlled by the World Health Organisation.

Appointment

An organised contact between a specific Patient and a Health or Care Professional at a specified date/time and location.

API

Services exposed by an application so that other applications can access data and operations.

Archetype

A formal re-usable model of a domain concept.

‘As needed’

‘As needed’ in the context of prescribing medicinal products and appliances to Patients means the medication can be taken “as needed” adhering to documented guidelines rather than adhering to a set schedule.

Medicines that are taken “as needed” are known as “PRN” medicines. “PRN” is a Latin term that stands for “pro re nata,” which means “as the thing is needed”.

Assistance Alert

An alert that informs recipients that a Health or Care Professional needs help or support.

Examples of when an Assistance Alert may be required include:

• The Health or Care Professional feels under the threat of violence

• The Health or Care Professional needs assistance with an acutely ill Patient

ATC

Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification (produced by World Health Organisation) - allocated to products based on therapeutic properties and intended organ or system on which they act. The main purpose of the ATC system is as a tool for capturing and presenting drug utilisation statistics with the aim of improving drug use both nationally and internationally. 

ATD

An Anti-tampering Device (ATD) is "the safety feature allowing the verification of whether the packaging of a medicinal product has been tampered with." Source.

Audit Trail 

An Audit Trail is a chronological record, set of records, and/or destination and source of records that provide evidence of the sequence of activities that relate to a specific operation, procedure, or event. 

Authority

The governing and assuring body responsible for the Capabilities and Standards framework.

BCP

Business Continuity Plan

Black Triangle 

A Black Triangle symbol is assigned to any drug or vaccine if it meets any of the criteria which is:

• A new active substance or a biosimilar medicine

• A new combination of medicines or active substances

• A new route of administration

• A new drug-delivery system

• An established medicine which is to be used in a new patient population

See Black Triangle Scheme for more information.

BMA

British Medical Association

See https://www.bma.org.uk/ .

BMI

Body Mass Index.

Body Map

A body map is a digital diagram showing the front and back view of a body which is used to show the location of injuries or treatments.

Diagram details can include, but are not limited to, muscles, organs and skeleton.

Booking

The process through which a Slot becomes an Appointment.

BP

British Pharmacopoeia

See https://www.pharmacopoeia.com/ .

BNF

British National Formulary aims to provide a quick reference for key information on the selection, prescribing, dispensing and administration of medicines.

See https://www.bnf.org/ .

BPC

British Pharmaceutical Codex

BI

Business Intelligence - technologies, applications and practices for the collection, integration, analysis, and presentation of business information. The purpose of Business Intelligence is to support better business decision making.

Business Go-Live

The point of a Data Migration where the Target Solution is switched on for live use and becomes the primary Solution used by the organisation.

Calculation

Refers to any mathematical activity which requires numerical inputs to produce a result, based on a pre-determined mathematical formula.

Examples include calculating Body Mass Index (BMI), Predicted Peak Flow and Pregnancy Expected Due Date.

Caldicott Committee

Committee which reviewed the use of patient-identifiable information in the NHS and produced the Caldicott report and review, see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-information-governance-review  for more information.

Caldicott Guardian

A Caldicott Guardian is a senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of people’s health and care information and making sure it is used properly.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-caldicott-guardian-council .

Call/Recall

This term is used to describe functionality which allows monitoring of Patients who require a follow up and automatically recalling them for future Appointments.

CAP

Common Assurance Process

Capacity

A term used to determine whether an individual is able to make decisions about their own medical treatment. Under the http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/contents, persons aged 16 and over are assumed to have Capacity unless there is an indication otherwise.

Capitation

Capitation is a payment system where lump-sum payments are made to care providers based on the number of patients in a target population, to provide some or all of their care needs.

Caree

A type of Related Person which identifies a person who receives care from a named individual because they are unable to care for themselves, for example, due to injury or disability.

Carer

A type of Related Person denoting a person who cares for a Patient(s) in some way as they do not have the Capacity to fully care for themselves, for example, due to injury or disability.

Examples of Carers are:

• Health Care Professionals

• Family Members

• Friend of the Patient 

Care Coordinator

A Care Coordinator is usually a nurse, social worker or occupational therapist to manage your care plan and review it.

In the context of Personal Health Budgets, it is the named individual with responsibility for oversight of the Budget on behalf of the CCG where this is being managed as a direct payment by the Patient/Service User.

Care Home

A general term used to cover care homes, nursing homes and residential homes.

Care Navigation Workflow

A pre-configured pathway of events to be completed by one or more Health or Care Professionals or Organisations, to process an episode of care. It may include some or all the following and more:

• Receive structured or semi-structured request from Patient/Service User

• Filter the information manually or based on predefined rules

• Ability to refer or signpost the request to different services or appropriate Health or Care Professional either manually or based on predefined rules

• Assessment of the request either by a human or system based on predefined rules or automated tool

These Workflows can be manual or automated or a mix of both.

Care Plan

A Care Plan sets out what support a Patient/Service User will get day-to-day and who will give it to them. It might cover:

• Summary of ongoing conditions and needs

• Medication

• Appointments

• Help with money problems

• Help with housing

• Support at home

• Help to get the Patient/Service User out of their home

• Notes from Care Providers, Patient/Service Users, Proxies

The Care Plan also outlines any risks, including details of what should happen in an emergency or crisis.

Care Worker

A Care Worker is someone whose job involves helping people who have particular problems or special needs, for example in a Care Home.

Care Team

It is a community of caregivers who are focused on the successful completion of tasks related to the related Care Plan. You can assign ownership of Care Plan tasks to members of the Care Team, including other health professionals, Patients, and family member.

Case

A Case can refer to an individual or their particular problem/condition that a Health or Care Professional is dealing with.

Caseload

A Caseload contains a number of Cases on a Health or Care Professional’s list for which they have a duty of care for in a particular period.

Case Finding

A systematic or opportunistic process that identifies individuals (e.g. people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) from a larger population for a specific purpose for example, ‘Flu vaccination'.

Case Mix Adjustment

The process by which the current and/or future disease burden of an individual or population is taken into consideration when setting budgets or evaluating performance.

Cautions

Cautions indicate that it is possible that the medication may not be recommended in some circumstances, it is not as strong as a contraindication.

The information under Cautions can be used to assess the risks of using a drug in a patient who has co-morbidities that are also included in the Cautions for that drug.

CCG 

Clinical Commissioning Group

Child

A person under 18 years of age (defined as under 18 for FGM documentation, and under 16 for PPFS/SPFS).

Characteristic

A symptom displayed or described by a Patient. For example, a rash, breathlessness, localised pain etc.

Citizen

A collective term used to indicate that a user could be a Patient/Service User and a Proxy.

Citizen Services

This is the term for Services which can be configured by the Practice relating to the following Capabilities:

• Communicate with Practice - Citizen

• Appointments Management - Citizen

• Prescription Ordering - Citizen

• View Record - Citizen

Citizen Services Account

The account held by a user with the Citizen Services Solution. This Account needs to be associated with the VUA Account (via Account Linkage) in order to access Citizen Services.

CI

Configuration Item or CI refers to the fundamental structural unit of a configuration management system.

Clinician

A clinician is a health care professional that works as a primary care giver of a patient in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, clinic, or patient's home. A clinician diagnoses and treats patients. Source.

Clinical Decision Support

Supports clinical decision-making to improve Patient safety at the point of care.

Clinical Review

A process where a qualified clinician reviews document(s), record(s) and/or other information to understand/decide if any action needs to be taken. Clinical Reviews are particularly important when automated administrative processes accept and file documents that may contain important clinical information about the health and care of a Patient.

Clinical Term

A human-readable description and associated machine-readable coding for a Concept in a Clinical Terminology which can be used to record and retrieve clinical information.

Clinical Terminology

A structured list of Concepts and their associated Clinical Terms for use in clinical practice. Clinical Terminologies provide for the detailed description of the care and treatment of Patients and contain terms for diseases, symptoms, operations, treatments, drugs and healthcare administration.

Standard Clinical Terminology is a necessary component for the safe transfer of clinical information, electronic exchange of clinical information and ensuring Patient safety. See SNOMED for current Clinical Terminology being used.

Clinical Pathways

Community Pharmacy Clinical Pathways Consultations provide Patients with advice and treatment for common conditions following specific clinical pathways.

CMDB

A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is a repository of information related to all the components of an information system. It contains the details of the configuration items (CI) in the IT infrastructure.

Communication Channel

A method by which Practice Staff and Patients can communicate – including email, phone, post or in person.

Communication Type

Communication Type is determined by the reason and/or content of the communication. Examples include Appointment reminders, Test results, Repeat Prescription reminders.

Community Pharmacy

Community Pharmacy offers a range of services, providing Patients with easy access to advice, support and treatment. Community Pharmacy consultation service information is shared with GP Practices and other Health or Care Organisations.

Competence

A term used to determine whether a Patient is able to make decisions about their own medical treatment, without the need for parental consent or knowledge. 

Competence Assessment

The assessment of an individual's ability to be ‘Competent’, usually performed by clinicians.

See https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/ethics#children-and-young-people

Competence Assessment Decision

The decision made during the Competence Assessment, which can be one of the following:

• Competent

• Not Competent

Competency Assessment

A test to demonstrate the ability to apply the knowledge and skills acquired from training. Examples may include observed exercises, questionnaires, quizzes or practical demonstrations.

Complete Record

Information containing a record of an Online Consultation request, its response and outcome. This will exclude any attachments (files and images) provided in the Solution.

Concept

"A clinical idea to which a unique concept identifier has been assigned... Concepts are associated with descriptions that contain human-readable terms describing the concept... Concepts are related to one another by relationships that provide a formal logical definition of the concept." Source.

Connected

When a computer or device is connected to the internet. A synonym of online.

Connector Scheme

Schemes that facilitate the pathway to non-clinical third sector services.

Consultation

Patient related interaction recorded by a Health Care Professional (HCP) in the Patient Record.

There are two main types of Consultation:

1. An interaction between a HCP and a patient

2. An interaction between two HCPs to exchange information relating to the care of a Patient or relating to a Citizen

Consultations include:

• Planned and unplanned interactions

• An interaction between a HCP and a patient

• An interaction between two HCPs to exchange information relating to the care of a Patient or relating to a Citizen

• Indirect interaction - such as a HCP reviewing and updating a Patient Record on receipt of some test results

Consultation Information

Information that is recorded by the Health or Care Professional during a Community Pharmacy Consultation.

Consent

Any freely given specific and informed indication of an individual’s agreement to personal data relating to them being processed and shared.

Contact Schedule

Used in Caseload Management, a Contact Schedule is created for an individual Patient/Service User and typically contains the following details:

• The assigned Health or Care Professional(s)

• The Patient/Service User being contacted

• The service provided

• The frequency of contacts

• The duration of contact

Contraindication

A specific medical reason for not using or continuing to use a medicine or treatment because it might be harmful.

Consumer Supplier

In the context of IM1, Consumer is the Supplier whose solution invokes the APIs or processes data files exposed by the Provider Supplier.

Core Clinical Record

A core electronic record relating to a Patient/Service User, containing personal, administrative and clinical information about the Patient/Service User. For GPIT settings these are Solutions meeting the GPIT Futures Patient Information Maintenance - GP Capability.

Core Clinical Solution

The solution that provides the essential functionality to support clinical and administrative processes within the Healthcare Organisation (i.e. the Solution that holds the GP Electronic Patient Record (EPR)).

COTS

A Commercial Off-The-Shelf product is a commercially available product that may be purchased from a licensed company with maintenance and support options available. In comparison a bespoke product is unique and developed for the functions specified by the consumer.

CPNP

Community Practitioner Nurse Prescriber

CSU

Commissioning Support Unit

Cut-Over Period

Period when a Practice or other organisation involved in a Data Migration may have limited access to both the Source and Target Solutions and manual and duplicate entry of data will be required. This is defined as the time between the final data extract being taken by the Source Solution Supplier to the point of Business Go-Live when the Service Recipient is using the Target Solution as the primary Solution. 

This period should be completed within 72 hours and outside core working hours as far as is reasonably practicable, otherwise it will need to be reported to NHS Digital.

Data Archetype(s)

Collections of data items that support the standard recording of information about a particular clinical Concept, such as a blood pressure reading.

Decommission

To send a message to the UK Medicines Verification Organisation (securmed) to change the status of the identified product to show that it has been supplied to the public. This is a requirement of the Falsified Medicines Directive and applies to General Practices and other types of Healthcare Institution.

Deduction

The process by which a patient is removed from a General Practices’ Patient List as they are no longer registered at the General Practice. Common reasons for Patient Deduction include the Patient being Fully Registered with another General Practice, death, military service, Patient is sent to prison, or the Patient emigrates.

Delayed Prescribing

A delayed prescription is akin to an Acute prescription with an optional delayed start (akin to a post-dated prescription) and an optional constrained end date.

Demographic Information

Information on the characteristics of a particular individual, such as age, sex, and the address at which they live.

Note: A Patient's NHS Number is also generally considered to be part of a Patient's Demographic Information.

Deployed

The term Deployed is used to mean that the supplier has made the update available to the customer and has made the customer aware of it.

Detailed Coded Record Access Level

Provides a Citizen with access to all data from the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) which is held as coded data (See Data Standards for definition of coded data and associated requirements), excluding associated free text.

See Citizen Services Implementation Guidance for more information.

Digital Social Care Records (DSCR)

A Digital Social Care Record (DSCR) allows the digital recording of care information and care received by an individual, within a social care setting, replacing traditional paper records. DSCRs are person-centred and enable information to be shared securely and in real-time with authorised individuals across the health and care sector.

Direct Access Service

A Direct Access Service is a service where Patients are directly referred from primary and community care to the Direct Access Service for both diagnostic assessment and treatment. Source.

Direct Message

Messaging functionality that offers real-time text transmission.

Directory of Services (DoS)

The Directory of Services (DoS) is a database of NHS services in England.

Disclaimer

In the context of the Communicate with Practice Citizen Service, this is a Disclaimer configured by the Healthcare Organisation to be displayed to Citizens when creating a communication so that important information about this service is always visible.

For example, a statement that the service should not be used in the case of an emergency.

Disconnected

When a computer or device is not connected to the internet. A synonym of offline.

Dispensary

A location where medicinal drugs are dispensed.

DOB

Date of Birth

Documents Access Level

Provides a Citizen with access to all clinical and administrative documents from the Electronic Patient Record (EPR), including Pathology and Radiology test results, made available by the GP Practice.

Citizens will not be able to view any clinical or administrative documents until they have been reviewed by the GP Practice.

See Citizen Services Implementation Guidance for more information.

Document Attributes

The information or meaning we add to the document to increase its usefulness in the solution, process or system of classification.

Document Properties

The characteristics inherent to the document. This could be its original format, process or system of origin, file name, title, date of creation, author and so on.

DoLS

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

Domiciliary Care

A service to support a Citizen in their own home. It might cover:

• Companionship care

• Nursing

• Housing support

• Live-in care

Domiciliary Care Schedule

A Domiciliary Care Schedule allows Health or Care Professionals to book in visits to Citizens who are receiving Domiciliary Care. It also might cover administrative functions such as:

• Staff rostering

• Travel route planning

• Pay

Dosage Information

The information supporting the prescribing of the product in order for it to be correctly administered, for example the recommended dose, route, frequency of administration and duration of treatment.

DDD

Defined Daily Dose assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in Adults.

DDE

Documented Data Extract

DevMAC

Development Milestone Achievement Certificate

DHSC

Department of Health and Social Care

DLP

A SUS portal to enable providers to securely transfer data to DSCROs (Data Services for Commissioners Regional Office).

See https://digital.nhs.uk/services/data-landing-portal .

DM+D

Dictionary of medicines and devices. This contains unique identifiers and associated textual descriptions for representing medicines and medical devices in information systems and electronic communications. See SCCI0052: Dictionary of medicines and devices (dm+d) - NHS Digital.

DMS

Domain Message Specification

DNA

'Did Not Attend', Primarily associated with Appointments as a status 'label'.

DNACPR

Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

DN/HV

District nurse/health visitor

DNS

Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical decentralised naming system for computers, services, or other resources connected to the Internet or a private network.

Drug Group

The drug group or drug classification is a term used to describe medications that are grouped together because of their similarity:

• By active ingredients of drugs according to the organ or system on which they act

• By their therapeutic, pharmacological and chemical properties

For example, the therapeutic classifications defined in the British National Formulary (BNF) or Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System (WHO).

Drug Tariff

Drug Tariff outlines:

• What will be paid to pharmacy contractors for NHS services provided either for reimbursement or for remuneration

• The rules to follow when dispensing

• The value of the fees and allowances you will be paid

• The drug and appliance prices you will be paid

DSCRO

Data Services for Commissioners Regional Offices.

These are regional offices which support the information needs of commissioners with the provision of appropriate data controls. The service allows CCGs, local authority public health teams and specialised commissioners to plan and commission healthcare services.

See https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/how-we-use-your-information/our-services/data-services-for-commissioners/

DWP

Department for Work & Pensions

e-BG

e-Business Gateway

e-BM

e-Business & Messaging

ECG

An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a simple test that can be used to check your heart's rhythm and electrical activity. Source.

e-GPFR

Electronic GP Factual Reports

ePACT2

ePACT2 is an online application which gives authorised users access to prescription data.

e-RS 

e-Referral Service. The NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) combines electronic booking with a choice of place, date and time for first hospital or clinic Appointments. Patients can choose their initial hospital or clinic Appointment, book it in the GP surgery at the point of referral, or later at home on the phone or online.

See e-Referrals Service (e-RS).

Electronic Patient Record (EPR)

An Electronic Patient Record (EPR) is an electronic version of a Patient's medical history, that is maintained over time (possibly by multiple service providers).

An EPR may include the following information for a Patient:

• Family History

• Consultations / Encounters

• Medication

• Characteristics and Interventions

• Documents

• Pathology and Radiology results

• Tasks

• Sensitivities and Allergies

eMED3

Electronic implementation of the form MED3. This form is a 'fit note', the statement of fitness and work.

See eMED3 (Fit Notes).

Emergency Alert

An alert sent to recipients about an urgent situation that requires immediate attention or action.

Endorsement

Prescription endorsements which pharmacy teams may need to use. Accurate endorsement is vital to ensuring correct payment from the Pricing Authority. Source.

End User

Individuals using the system, for example, practice staff, GPs.

EOL/EOLC Plan

End of Life, End of Life Care - a plan that contains the wishes of the Patient regarding their care in the latter days of their life.

Episode Type

Episode Types are categories of episodes of care based on the occurrence of a heath condition. Examples may include:

• First - indicates the first occasion that the Patient presents with a diagnosis

• New - indicates a new episode of illness relating to a previously diagnosed condition

• Ongoing/Other - indicates that an encounter relates to a previously diagnosed condition but it is not the start of a New episode

EPS

Electronic Prescription Service. The National Service that enables Prescribers, such as GPs and practice nurses, to send prescriptions electronically to a dispenser (such as a pharmacy) of a Patient's choice making the Prescribing and dispensing process more efficient and convenient for Patients.

See Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) - Prescribing

Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) prescriptions

Prescriptions created for Patients that are transmitted electronically, with the inclusion of an Advanced Electronic Signature, from a prescriber to the Spine to allow dispensing via Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).

See Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) - Prescribing for further information.

Evacuation Alert

An alert to inform recipients they may need to evacuate a Health or Care Organisation on short notice due to a danger or emergency situation.

Evaluation

An assessment of the effectiveness of training. This is done by collecting data on whether the learners were satisfied with the training, whether they learned something and are able to apply those skills at their workplace.

Falsified Medicines Directive

"The European Falsified Medicines Directive [2011/62/EU] (commonly known as FMD) has been brought in to address the issue of falsified medicines entering the legitimate medicines supply chain across Europe. Falsified medicines include those with little or no active ingredients, the wrong active ingredients, fake or tampered packaging, and those where products and/or packaging have been stolen for re-use or re-sale.

Under the Directive, all new packs of prescription medicines placed on the market in Europe from 9th February 2019 onwards will have to bear two safety features: a unique identifier (UI) in the form of a 2D data matrix (barcode) and an anti-tampering device (ATD)." Source.

Source: Directive 2011/62/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011

Falsified Medicinal Product

Any medicinal product with a false representation of: (a) its identity, including its packaging and labelling, its name or its composition as regards any of the ingredients including excipients and the strength of those ingredients; (b) its source, including its manufacturer, its country of manufacturing, its country of origin or its marketing authorisation holder; or (c) its history, including the records and documents relating to the distribution channels used. This definition does not include unintentional quality defects and is without prejudice to infringements of intellectual property rights.

Source: Directive 2011/62/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011

FCAP

Financial and Commercial Approvals Panel. Internal to NHS Digital and is the senior sign-off panel for any spending over a certain threshold.

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