This glossary was devised in Manchester, and has a regional bias, but jargon in the rest of the UK is not very different, and I have tried to include Scottish, Irish, and Welsh terms. I am only trying to cover acronyms. Helpful people who suggest I should include all sorts of other terms devised to confuse, mystify or impress the lay reader of official documents have clearly not comprehended the enormity of the problem.
These are mostly terms which are discussed by managers and politicians (usually because they cost money) or which you may find included in medical notes. Some doctors charge a fee for explaining your notes to you, but I hope this glossary will help you understand for free. If you are looking for information about a medical condition you might like to try UK Self Help, which has a very good list of helpful organisations, mostly run by people by people with personal experience of the condition. They are also very helpful in understanding exactly what people mean when they use unfamiliar words.
It would be better if people spell out exactly what they mean, at least the first time round, but they don't, so I hope this list will help. If you are on the receiving end of documents supposedly produced for the public or for users of services please complain if they are incomprehensible. Managers can get help if they can't manage this feat unaided.
Some of the explanations in the glossary are a bit quick and dirty, so may give an inaccurate picture, particularly of complex organisations. And some are doctors slang or offensive - or both - but you may find them in your notes so I make no apology for including them. And a few are internet terms, but they get everywhere these days.
You can find other glossaries on the Internet. This one is designed for lay people involved with the British National Health Service and welfare state. Most of the others are designed for professionals. Acronyms And Initialisms For Health Information Resources compiled by Marie-Lise Shams is the most impressive multilingual list. The National Electronic Library for Health has an good page of dictionaries of various sorts. Acronym Corner at Nottingham University, covers medical education acronyms. Medical Online Glossaries & Resources has links to hundreds of glossaries in ten different European languages. Pharma-lexicon has a searchable database of 40,000 medical entries. Allglossary has 1702 glossaries listed in 242 Categories, and Acronym Finder claims to have 186,000 entries in its database. So this one is pretty modest by comparison.
In case you are wondering, I am not a doctor, I am not trying to sell anything, and I am not recording anything about your visit to this site. If you have suggestions for additions, repairs, or improvements please email me, Martin Rathfelder.
# Fracture
+ve Positive
-ve Negative
3Ns Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland Mental Health NHS Trust
A&E Accident and Emergency Department. Casualty - as seen on TV, but usually less exciting.
A/O Alert and Oriented
A4A Awards for All
AA Attendance Allowance. Benefit for people over 65 who need personal care
or Advanced Access
AAA Annual Accountability Agreement
AAC Advisory Appointments Committee
AAGBI Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland
AAMS Association of Air Medical Services (US)
AAO American Academy of Opthalmology
AAOS American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
AAOx3 Awake, Alert, Oriented x 3 [person/place/time]
AAT Association of Accounting Technicians
AB Antibiotic
ABC Activity-Based Costing
ABHI Association of British Healthcare Industries
ABI Area-Based Initiative
ABM Activity-Based ManagementABN Association of British Neurologists
ABPI Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
ABS Adult Basic Skills
a c ante cibos - before food
AC AnteCubital vein or fossa (IV)
ACA Area Cost Adjustment (part of the SSA)
ACAC Area Clinical Audit Committee
ACAD Ambulatory Care and Diagnostic Centre
ACAS Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
ACBS Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances
ACC Adjusted Credit Ceiling (part of capital control framework)
ACCA Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
ACCE Association of County Chief Executives
ACCEA Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards
ACD Active Compression-Decompression (CPR)
ACDA Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards (obs)
ACDF Active Communities Development Fund
ACDC Ambulatory Care and Diagnostic Centre
ACDM - Association of Clinical Data Managers
ACDP Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens
ACE Angiotensin Converting Enzyme is a sort of hormone in the kidney which controls the body's fluid/salt balance and has a major role in maintaining blood pressure.
ACEO Association of Chief Education Officers
ACEVO Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations
ACF Association of Charitable Foundations
ACG Annual Capital Guideline (part of Local Government capital control framework)
ACHCEW Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales (obsolete)
ACHMS Asian Community Mental Health Services
ACIE Association of Charity Independent Examiners
ACIG Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Information Group
ACL Aggregate Credit Limit (part of capital control framework)
ACLS Advanced Coronary Life Support
ACM Assessment and Care Management - Social Services community care purchaser division.
ACME Advisory Committee on Medical Establishment (Scotland)
or Alliance for Continuing Medical Education
ACMHS Asian Community Mental Health Services
ACMT Advisory Committee on Medical Training
AcoP Accounting Code of Practice
ACORN A Classification Of Residential
Neighbourhoods (used in SSA)
ACP American College of Physicians
ACRA Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (obs)
ACRE Action with Communities in Rural England
ACRPI Association of Clinical Research for the Pharmaceutical Industry
ACS Association of Charity Shops
ACSES Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors
ACT Assertive Community Treatment
ACTAF Association of Community Trusts and Foundations Now Community Foundation Network
ACTH Adenocorticotrophic hormone
ACTS Agency for Community Team Support
ACTR Additional Cost of Teaching and Research (in Scotland)
ACU Active Community Unit (part of the Home Office)
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
ADC Automatic Data Capture
ADCU Anti-Drugs Co-ordination Unit
ADD Attention Deficit Disorder
ADH Additional Duty Hours
ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ADI Acceptable Daily Intake
ADL Activities of daily living - measures of independence in being able
to perform personal care and other basic daily tasks; for example eating, washing,
dressing, getting in and out of bed, climbing stairs etc.
ADMS Assistant Director of Medical Services
ADNS Assistant Director of Nursing Services
ADP Automatic Data Processing
or adenosine 5' pyrophosphate
ADQ Average Daily Quantity. Average amount of a medication prescribed for an adult in England.
ADS Attribution Data Set - A list of patients on GP lists in March 1998 which matches patients by age and sex to practices and to census enumeration districts (ED)
ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
ADSS Association of Directors of Social Services - Social Services’ Directors Trades Union.
ADSU Automatic Distress Signal Unit
AE air entry - part of the examination of the chest
AED Automatic External Defibrillator
AEF Aggregate External Finance
AELS Advanced Endocrinological Life Support
AEN Additional Educational Needs (part of SSA)
AFAIAA As Far As I Am Aware
AFB acid-fast bacillus
AFOM Associate of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine
AFPP Association for Perioperative Practice
AFR Annual Financial Return
AfS Action for Sustainability
AFWG Allocation Formula Working Group (part of Home Office)
AGM Annual General Meeting
AGMA Association of Greater Manchester Authorities
AGMETS Advisory Group on Medical and Dental Education, Training and Staffing
AGREE Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation in Europe
AGUM Association for Genitourinary Medicine
AHA Associate of the Institute of Hospital Administrators
or Area Health Authority (defunct)
AHCPA Association of Health Centre and Practice Administrators
AHHRM Association of Healthcare Human Resource Management Personnel Directors Union
AHP Allied health professional
AHRQ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
AICD Automatic Internal Cardiac Defibrillator
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
AIF Area investment frameworks
AIM Advanced Informatics in Medicine
or Association of Independent Multifunds (obsolete)
AIMS Association for Improvements in Maternity Services
AIOPI - Association of Information Officers in the Pharmaceutical Industry
AIQ Available In Quarters
aka Also Known As
ALA Association of Local Authorities. Now part of the LGA
ALAC Artificial Limb and Appliance Centre. Now known as the DSC
ALARM Association of Local Authority Risk Managers
ALATS Association of Local Authority Treasurer's Societies
ALD Adult with Learning Difficulties
ALF Activity-Led Funding
ALG Association of London Government
ALI Adult Learning Inspectorate (abolished April 2007)
ALM Action Learning for Managers
ALMO Arms Length Management Organisation
ALPHA Access to Learning for the Public Health Agenda
alos Average Length of Stay
ALPHA Access to Learning for the Public Health
ALS Advanced Life Support
ALSOB Alcohol Like Substance On Breath
ALT /SGPT liver function tests
ALW Adult Learners' Week
AMA American Medical Association
or Against Medical Advice
AMBEX Ambulance Exhibition
AME Annual Managed Expenditure
AMEE Association for Medical Education in Europe
AMIA American Medical Informatics Association
or Asset Management Plan
AMPS Assessment of Motor Skills
AMQ Average Monthly Quantities. The assumed maintenance dose per month for an adult of a drug.
AMRA Asset Management Revenue Account
AMRC Association of Medical Research Charities
or Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
AMSPAR Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Administrators and Receptionists
ANC Ante Natal Clinic
ANH Artificial Nutrition and Hydration
ANI Automatic Number Identification (telephony)
ANSI American National Standards Institute
AOB Alcohol On Breath
AOC Adult Opportunity Centre
AODP Association of Operating Department Practitioners formerly BAODA British Association of Operating Department Assistants
AOMRC Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
AOP Association of Optometrists
AOT Assertive Outreach Team
APA Association of Police Authorities
APC Area Prescribing Committee
or Antigen-presenting Cell
APD Advanced Professional Development
APH Aged Persons Home. aka EPH
or Association of Public Health - now turned into UKPHA
APHA American Public Health Association
APLS Advanced Paediatric Life Support
APMS Alternative Primary Medical Services
APPG All Party Parliamentary Group
APROP Action for the Proper Regulation of Private Hospitals
APSE Association for Public Service Excellence
APT&C Administrative, Professional, Technical & Clerical - former grading of local government staff
AQH Association for Quality in Healthcare
AQS Air Quality Strategy
AR analytical standard of reagent purity
ARIF Aggressive Research Intelligence Facility
ARM Association of Radical Midwives
or artificial rupture of the membranes
ARSH Association of Royal Society of Health
ARVAC Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector
as Auricle Sinistrus (Left Ear)
ASA Advertising Standards Authority
ASAP As Soon As Possible
ASB Anti-Social Behaviour
ASBAH Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus
ASBO Anti-Social Behaviour Order
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange - Plain text
ASD Autistic Spectrum Disorder
ASEC Associate Specialist Education Committee
ASH Action on Smoking and Health
ASIM American Society of Internal Medicine
ASIT Association of Surgeons in Training
ASME Association for the Study of Medical Education
ASP Active Server Protocol
ASPFA Asylum Seekers and People From Abroad - a Social Services team who pay out cash to people who cannot get Social Security Benefits
ASSIST Association for Information Management and Technology Staff in the NHS
ASTRO-PU Age Sex Temporary Resident Originated Prescribing Unit.
ASW Approved Social Worker - A social worker approved to carry out Sections under the Mental Health Act.
ASWCS Avon Somerset and Wiltshire Cancer Services
ATC Adult Training Centre (obs)
ATfJ Action Teams for Jobs
ATLS Advanced Trauma Life Support
ATMD Association of Trust Medical Directors
ATP adenosine 5' triphosphate
ATTRACT - Ask TRiP to Rapidly Alleviate Confused Thoughts
Atts Attendances
ATU Alcohol Treatment Unit
au Right Ear
AUDGP Association of University Departments of General Practice (obs)
AVG Ambulatory Visit Group
AVMA Action for the Victims of Medical Accidents
AZT Azidothymidine (or zidovudine)
B2B Business to Business
BA Benefits Agency (obs)
or Bachelor of Arts
BAAF British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering
BACS British Association for Chemical Specialities
or Blood Alcohol Content
BACCH British Association for Community Child Health
BACTS British Association of Clinical Terminology
BACUP British Association of Cancer United Patients
BAEM British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine
BAMM British Association of Medical Managers
BAMS Benefit Agency Medical Service (obs)
BAN British Approved Name
BAO British Association of Otolaryngologists
BAOT British Association of Occupational Therapists
BAP British Association for Psychopharmacology
BAPRAS British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons
BAPS British Association of Paediatric Surgeons
or British Association of Plastic Surgeons (now BAPRAS)
BAPT British Association of Physical Training
BARQA British Association of Research Quality
BASH British Association for the Study of Headache
BASICS British Association of Immediate Care
BASRaT British Association of Sports Rehabilitators and Trainers
BASSAC British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres
BASW British Association of Social Workers
BAUS British Association of Urological Surgeons
BBP Blood-Borne Pathogen
BBS Bulletin Board System
BBV Blood borne virus
BC Block Contracting
or Borough Council
BCA Basic Credit Approval (part of capital control framework)
BCCCF Black Community Care Consultative Forum
BCD Black and Culturally Diverse
BCF Boundary Change Factor (part of SSA)
BCG Bacille Calmette-Guerin Vaccination for TB. Named after the scientists who developed the weakened strain of TB
or ballistocardiogram
BCHS Better Care Higher Standards
BCODP British Council of Disabled People
BCU Basic Command Unit (police)
BD Twice Daily - of medication
or BenzoDiazepine
BDA British Dental Association
or British Diabetic Association now called Diabetes UK
or British Dietetic Association
or British Dyslexia Association
BDD body dysmorphic disorder
BDH British Drug Houses (no longer trading)
BDS Bachelor of Dental Surgery
BEAM Biomedical Equipment Assessment and Management
BEHAF British Ethnic Health Awareness Foundation
BESS Benchill Ecumenical Service Scheme - three local churches which work together
BF Bio Feedback
BGOP Better Government for Older People (Cabinet Office/ LGA Initiative to give more people a say and encourage them to make a greater contribution to their communities (allegedly)
BGS British Geriatrics Society for Health in Old Age
BHAPS Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance and Paramedic Service
BHF British Heart Foundation
BHPS British Household Panel Survey
BIBRA British Industrial Biological Association
bid bis in die - twice daily
BIDS Bath Information and Data Services
BIIG Business Information In Government
BILD British Institute of Learning Disabilities
BIQ Back in Quarters
BIR British Institute of Radiology
BIRA British Institute of Regulatory Affairs
BiTC Business in the Community
BIVDA British in Vitro Diagnostics Association
BLEVE Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion
BLP Branch Labour Party - normally covering one ward
BLROA British Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Association
BLS Basic Life Support
BMA British Medical Association - the main doctors' Trade Union
BMAG Burnage Multi-Agency Group
BMCA Barlow Moor Community Association
BME Black and Minority Ethnic
BMI Body Mass Index (kg/m2)
BMIS British Medical Informatics Society
BMJ British Medical Journal - published by the BMA weekly
BNF British National Formulary. Quarterly publication containing details of prescribed drugs
BOA British Orthopaedic Association
BOGOF Buy One Get One Free
BOPCAS British Official Publications Current Awareness Service
BOS British Orthodontic Society
BP Blood pressure
or Boiling point
BPA British Paediatric Association
BPAS British Pregnancy Advisory Service
BPC British Pharmaceutical Codex
BPD Borderline Personality Disorder
BPH Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Enlargement of the prostate gland
BPMF British Postgraduate Medical Federation
BPPV benign paroxysmal positional vertigo
BPR Business Process Re-engineering
BPS British Pharmacological Society
BPSU British Paediatric Surveillance Unit
BQS Better Quality Services
BR Budget Requirement
BrAPP British Association of Pharmaceutical Physicians
BRT Big Red Trucks
BSAD British Sports Association for the Disabled
BSc Bachelor of Science
BSCC British Society for Clinical Cytology
BSE Bovine Spongiform Encephalopthy. Mad Cow Disease. Causes a new form of CJD which has killed 156 people and caused HMG to spend many millions of pounds.
BSEC Basic Surgical Education Committee
BSH British Society for Haematology
BSI British Standards Institution
or British Society for Immunology
BSPED British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes
BSR British Society of Rheumatology
or Basic Specialist Training
BSVP Better Services for Vulnerable People; NHS and SSDs enjoined to be joined up in respect of 'priority' groups who are supposed to be benefiting from Community Care
BTCV British Trust for Conservation Volunteers
BTEG Black Training and Enterprise Group
BTW By The Way
BUGAUP Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions
BUNDY But Unfortunately Not Dead Yet
BUPA British United Provident Association
BURA British Urban Regeneration Association
BV Best Value (sometimes used for Best Value Indicator)
BVACoP Best Value Accounting Code of Practice
BVPI Best Value Performance Indicator
BVPP Best Value Performance Plan
BWS Beached Whale Syndrome
BZD BenZoDiazepine
Last updated 2/9/07