Glossary of public health terms

Introduction

Public Health unfortunately uses an awful lot of acronyms, abbreviations and unnecessarily complicated and misleading terms.  In an effort to unscramble the code, some of the main offenders are listed below, with links to further resources.

Click on the letters above to jump to different sections of the glossary, or press Ctrl-F to search within this page.

Glossary

Acute Trust  An NHS organisation providing secondary and/or tertiary care, often based in hospitals
Links:  Structure of the NHS

Bronze (Operational) Command  Operational level of command during a major incident.  Bronze command centres are usually based on-site at the incident and will feed back up to Silver and Gold Commands
Links: Health protection (internal) | NHS Emergency planning guidance 2005 (DH, October 2005)

CCDC  Consultant in Communicable Disease Control.  A health protection consultant usually employed in a local HPU.  The CCDC receives formal 'notifications' of diseases
Links: Health protection page (internal) | Public Health training (internal)

CDC  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US equivalent of the HPA
Links: CDC | Health protection page (internal)

CfI  Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency
Links: HPA CfI pages | Health protection page (internal)

CHaPD  Chemical Hazards and Poisons Division.  A division of the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (CRCEH) at the Health Protection Agency (HPA).  Also sometimes known as DCHP (Division of Chemical Hazards and Poisons)
Links: HPA CHaPD pages | HPA CRCEH pages | Health protection page (internal)

Choose and Book  IT-based system designed to allow NHS patients a choice in who provides their secondary care if they are referred by their GP to hospital.  In time should allow patients to access and alter their booking by telephone and internet.  Part of the 'NHS Connecting for Health' IT strategy.
Links: DH Choose and Book site | NHS Connecting for Health

CMO  Chief Medical Officer.  A Government-appointed doctor who acts as principal medical adviser to the DH and professional head of medical staff in the UK Accompanied by Chief Nursing and Chief Dental Officers.
Links: CMO page

Commission  Design, purchase and implement a service, usually tailored to a local population's needs, e.g. by first conducting a health needs assessment.  Commissioning is the responsibility of PCTs in England, with the function variably involving primary care clinical staff for example through Practice-based Commissioning

DCHP See CHaPD, above

DH  Department of Health, a department of the English Government.  There has recently been devolution of health departments in the UK so each individual nation (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) have semi-autonomous departments
Links: Department of Health | Scottish Executive Health Dept | National Assembly for Wales Health & Social Care Dept | NI Dept of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

DIPC  (pronounced 'dip-see')  Director of Infection Prevention and Control.  A doctor or nurse appointed in an NHS Trust to oversee infection control.  Often takes some legal responsibility along with the hospital Board for any hospital-acquired infections

DPH (plural DsPH) Director of Public Health.  A local Public Health consultant, usually employed in a PCT (although SHA-level DsPH also exist) to oversee Public Health issues in the local population
Links:  Public Health training (internal)

EHO  Environmental Health Officer.  An employee of the local authority, involved in food-borne disease outbreaks amongst other things.  Works closely with the local HPU
Links: Chartered Institute of Environmental Health | Public Health training (internal)

Epidemic  Disease in a population which gives rise to a higher than expected number of cases of that disease or which is clustered in space or time
Links: Health protection page (internal)

F1, F2 etc  See Foundation training

Foundation training  New training grades of junior doctor described in the Modernising Medical Careers programme.  The first year of work after medical school is F1, and the second (replacing the SHO grade) F2.  Also sometimes referred to as FHO (foundation house officer) or FY (foundation year) 1 or 2.
Links: NHS Modernising Medical Careers | Public Health training (internal)

FPH  Faculty of Public Health, a Faculty of the Royal College of Physicians.  Sets the specialist exams (MFPH) in Public Health training
Links: Faculty of Public Health | Public Health training (internal)

FTSTA  Fixed term specialty training appointment.  A one-year post equivalent to ST1 or ST2, but outside a formal training scheme.  Any subsequent ST programme entered into is reduced by the number of years' (max 2) FTSTA undertaken.  Part of the MMC programme, equivalent to the old LAT post.
Links: Public Health training (internal) | A day in the life of a PH trainee (internal)

Gold (Strategic) Command  Strategic level of command during a major incident.  Usually sits physically far removed from an incident, in a regional or national centre. Members of Gold Command include the health advice team (HAT). Sits above Silver (Tactical) and Bronze (Operational) commands
Links: Health protection (internal) | NHS Emergency planning guidance 2005 (DH, October 2005)

Green Book  Common name for DH book entitled 'Immunisation against infectious disease' which describes the UK immunisation schedule
Links: Green Book | Health protection page (internal) | My version of UK immunisation schedule (internal, pdf, 41kb)

H5N1  The subtype of influenza A causing avian influenza in the early 21st century
Links:  Flu pandemic planning (internal)

Health advice team (HAT)  Team which sits at Gold command during a major incident to provide expert advice on health issues to a multidisciplinary command group.  Superseded JHAC and superseded itself by the STAC in April 2007 (just to keep you on your toes).
Links:  Health protection page (internal) | NHS Emergency planning guidance 2005 (DH, October 2005) | STAC advice (DH, April 2007)

Health equity audit (HEA)  An assessment of equity of provision of, and access to, healthcare within a population. For example, are individuals living within a particular town less likely to have access to cardiac investigations than those in a similar, neighbouring town? Do local deprived populations access healthcare as readily as more affluent populations?
Links: Smoking cessation HEA (Internal) | Public Health datasets - neighbourhood profiling (Internal link) | DH HEA page | ERPHO HEA page | Community health profiles

Health promotion  The practice of attempting to improve the health of a population, through methods such as education or legislation
Links: Health promotion page (internal)

Health protection  The practice of preventing or reducing disease in a population, e.g. by controlling outbreaks of communicable disease
Links: Health protection page (internal)

HIA  Health impact assessment.  An assessment made on an intervention (e.g. the building of a large chemical plant) to look at the immediate and chronic impacts on health of the local population
Links:  NICE HIA website (archive - no longer maintained)

HNA  Health needs assessment.  An assessment made on a population to ascertain if and how health could be improved within that population
Links:  HNA at Huntercombe (internal) | HNA: a practical guide (NICE, June 2005)

HPA  Health Protection Agency.  An independent government-funded agency in England with responsibility for health protection functions.  Independent of the NHS, but still receives most of its funding from the Department of Health.  In Ireland, refers to the Health Promotion Agency
Links:  Health protection page (internal) | HPA website

HPU  Health Protection Unit.  A local Unit of the Health Protection Agency

HRG  Healthcare resource group.  A system of coding used in health service data to identify and group similar healthcare interventions.  It is designed to help service planning by providing relatively detailed statistics on interventions provided at secondary and tertiary centres, and will thus underpin the move to practice-based commissioning and payment by results
Links: Public Health datasets - health service activity (Internal link) | HRG pages (NHS Information Centre) | HRG statistics (HES online)

Index of multiple deprivation (IMD)  A quantitative measure of deprivation for a specific geographic area, e.g. a super output area (SOA).  The deprivation index is measured in certain 'domains' such as employment deprivation
Links: Public Health datasets - neighbourhood profiling (Internal link) | DCLG IMD pages (Dept for Communities and Local Govt) | National Statistics site: SOA

JHAC  Joint Health Advisory Cell.  An advisory body which used to sit at Gold (Strategic) Command during major incidents but which has firstly superseded by the HAT (health advice team) and, more recently, the STAC (scientific and technical advice cell)
Links:  Health protection page (internal) | NHS Emergency planning guidance 2005 (DH, October 2005) | STAC advice (DH, April 2007)

JSNA Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. Legal duty of Primary Care Trusts and Local Authorities in England to formally assess needs in health and social care, to instruct commissioning of local services. Introduced in the Commissioning Framework for Health and Wellbeing in 2007

Links: Policy and legislation (internal) | Commissioning framework for health & well-being (DH, March 2007) | JSNA guidance (DH, December 2007)

LA  Local Authority, e.g. District Councils

LAT  Locum Appointment for Training.  A Specialist Registrar-level post limited in time, usually to a maximum of 1 year. Now replaced by FTSTAs.
Links:  Public Health training (internal)

MFPH  Member of the Faculty of Public Health.  Exams which must be sat in order to complete specialist training, consisting of Part A and Part B (the OSPHE)
Links:  MFPH exams (internal) | MFPH part A tips (internal) | Public Health training (internal)

MMC  Modernising Medical Careers.  A process to update medical training structure in the UK.  Saw the end of House Officer grades, replacing them with Foundation (F1, F2) years instead.  Specialist Registrar grades are being replaced by Specialist Training (ST) posts
Links: NHS Modernising Medical Careers | Public Health training (internal)

MPH  Masters in Public Health.  A degree needed to complete specialist training in Public Health, either taken as part of an SpR or SpT rotation, or independently.  An MSc (Masters in Science) in a similar subject (e.g. Public Health and Epidemiology) is usually regarded as equivalent
Links: Public Health training (internal) | Noticeboard (internal)

MSc  Masters in Science.  See MPH for relevance to Public Health

NHS  The National Health Service, the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK.  Run by the Department of Health
Links:  Main NHS website | Structure of the NHS

NHS Direct  Telephone and internet advice service run by the NHS, available 24 hours a day (0845 46 47)
Links:  NHS Direct

NICE  National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence.  A Government-funded (but theoretically independent) organisation set up primarily to assess the efficacy and value-for-money of treatments provided by the NHS.  Issues guidelines on specific areas of clinical care.  Has recently merged with the Health Development Agency (HDA), so should also provide Public Health guidance in the future
Links:  NICE

Notifiable Disease  A disease which the diagnosing clinician has a statutory (legal) responsibility to notify to the correct authority (the local CCDC in the UK).   They are generally diseases which have significant public health implications, such as highly infectious diseases
Links:  HPA list of notifiable diseases | Health protection page (internal)

Operational planning  Detailed, practical plans.  An operational plan should give details on exactly what actions individuals should take and how something should be carried out in practice (cf strategic plans)
Links: Flu pandemic planning (internal)

OSPHE  Objective Structured Public Health Exam.  A structured exam, similar in style to a medical Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE), which now forms Part B of the MFPH exams
Links: MFPH exams (internal) | Public Health training (internal)

Outbreak  An epidemic

Pandemic  An epidemic occurring over a very large area

Payment by results (PbR)  A system to set tariffs for the purchase of healthcare in the NHS, currently care purchased from secondary care providers by PCTs, although GP practices may take over this purchasing role in the practice-based commissioning (PBC) reforms
Links: DH PbR pages | 2006/7 tariff

PCT  Primary Care Trust. An NHS Trust responsible for commissioning and providing primary care for a local population. 
Links:  Structure of the NHS | Reconfiguration details (DH)

Performance management  Assessment of the state of completion of pre-specified objectives.  In practice, performance management often involves an active role in encouraging completion of the objectives e.g. by setting and monitoring 'targets', rewarding for successful completion, or fining for non-completion

Practice-based commissioning (PBC)  A system through which individual or groups of GP practices directly commission healthcare using their own budgets.  PCTs oversee this process.  Tariffs paid are based on the Payment by Results system.
Links: DH PBC pages

Primary care  First tier of healthcare provided in the UK, including General (family) Practice, District Nursing, Pharmacists, Dentists and other care providers, usually local to the population served.  Currently organised by local Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)

Primary immunisations ('imms')  Immunisations carried out routinely in the first few months of life
Links: Green Book | Health protection page (internal)

QOF (Quality and Outcomes Framework)  A system to measure and reward quality of primary care provision through extensive data collection from GP practices.
Links: Public Health datasets - health service activity (Internal link) | DH QOF pages | QOF statistics

Secondary care  Second tier of healthcare provided in the UK, involving emergency and specialist referral and treatment (usually located in hospitals), provided by Acute Trusts

SHA  Strategic Health Authority.  Regional authorities which oversee the work of Primary Care Trusts and Acute Trusts within their area and link more directly with the Department of Health. 
Links:  Structure of the NHS

Silver (Tactical) command  Middle level of response during a major incident.  The silver command centre is usually local to the incident, but not on site, thus in theory protecting it from any physical risk posed by the incident itself.  Sits between Gold and Bronze commands
Links: Health protection (internal) | NHS Emergency planning guidance 2005 (DH, October 2005)

SHO  Senior House Officer.  Grade of junior doctor, above (Pre-registration) House Officer, and beneath Specialist Registrar.  Being replaced by Foundation (F2) posts as part of Modernising Medical Careers
Links: Public Health training (internal)

SpR  Specialist Registrar.  Intermediate grade of junior doctor undertaking specialist training, just beneath Consultant level.  The SpR grade has been phased out, replaced by Specialty Registrars (StRs) under MMC
Links: Public Health training (internal) | A day in the life of a PH trainee (internal)

SpT  Specialist Trainee.  In Public Health, refers to non-medical trainees undergoing specialist training
Links: Public Health training (internal) | A day in the life of a PH trainee (internal)

ST/StR  Specialty Training/Trainee.  New training scheme for medical specialties, including public health, for jobs starting August 2007 onwards, as part of the MMC programme.  Replaced SpR and SpT posts.
Links: Public Health training (internal) | A day in the life of a PH trainee (internal)

STAC Scientific and technical advice cell.  Group of specialists at Gold command, usually including a public health consultant, during a major emergency. Replaced the Health Advice Team (HAT) and, before that, the Joint Health Advisory Cell (JHAC).

Links: Health protection (Internal) | NHS Emergency planning guidance 2005 (DH, October 2005) | STAC advice (DH, April 2007)

STI  Sexually transmitted infection
Links: Health promotion page (internal) | Health protection page (internal)

Strategic planning  A type of planning which looks at the broad concepts and structures involved in meeting particular objectives (cf operational plans)
Links: Flu pandemic planning (internal)

Tertiary care  Third tier of healthcare provided in the UK. Provide specialist care over and above that available in secondary care centres, e.g. renal transplantation.  Usually located in large regional hospitals

Trust  An NHS organisation
Links:  Structure of the NHS

WHO  World Health Organization.  A United Nations-funded international health organisation.  Many of its roles are related to public health
Links:  WHO