ECR Extra Contractual Referral - an arrangement under the NHS internal market to cover a referral to an NHS Trust for which there was no existing contract with the patient’s health authority or residence or GP Fundholder. Now replaced by OATS.

ECT electro-convulsive therapy

ECTS European credit transfer scheme

ED Enumeration District. The smallest unit for census data - about 200 homes

or Economic Development

EDA Erectile Dysfunction Association. A fine upstanding body of men.

EDI Electronic Data Interchange - exchanging information electronically, not including faxing.

EDIFACT Electronic Data Interchange - Electronic Data Interchange is a particular structure which complies with ISO 9735. This is the standard for EDI adopted by the NHS.

EDIT Elderly Dementia Intervention Team

EDP Emotionally Disturbed Person

or Education Development Plan

EDS Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

EDT Emergency Duty Team Social Services Departments

EDTA ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

EEA European Economic Area

EEC European Economic Community

EEG Electroencephalogram

EFGCP European Forum for Good Clinical Practice

EFL External Financing Limit

EFM electronic fetal monitoring

EFMI European Federation for Medical Informatics

EFQM European Foundation for Quality Management

EGFR Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor

EHIC European Health Insurance Card

EHMA European Healthcare Management Association

EHOEnvironmental Health Officer

EHP Education and Health Partnership

or Environmental Health Practitioner

EHR Electronic Health Record

EHS Extremely Hazardous Substance

EIA European Information Association

EiC Excellence in Cities

EIF European Investment Fund

EIS Early Intervention Service

EL Executive Letter

eLIB electronic Libraries Programme

ELP Essential Lifestyles Planning - Person centred planning tool emphasising rhythms and routines of daily life used in Learning Disability Services.

EMA emergency medical admission

or Education Maintenance Allowance

EMAG Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant

EMAS Employment Medical Advisory Service

EMEA European Medicines Evaluation Agency

emf electromotive force

EMG electromyogram

EMI Elderly Mentally Ill

EMIS Egton Medical Information System

EMLC European Midwives Liason Committee

EMO Examining Medical Officer

EMR Electronic Medical Record

EMS Emergency Medical Services

EMU Economic and Monetary Union

EMW Early Morning Wakening - symptom of depression

EMWA European Medical Writers Association

EN English Nature

ENB English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (obsolete)

ENHPA European Network of Health Promotion Agencies

ENIL European Network on Independent Living

ENP Emergency Nurse Practitioner

ENT Ear Nose & Throat properly known as Otorhinolaryngology

EO Employers' Organisation

EOC Equal Opportunities Commission

EOH Ethyl Alcohol

EP English Partnerships

or Emergency Planning

EPACT Electronic Prescribing Analysis and Costs

EPCS Environmental, Protective & Cultural Services

EPH Elderly Person’s Home

EPHR Electronic Patient Health Record

EPI EPInephrine

EPICS Elderly Persons Integrated Care Scheme

EPO Erythropoietin

EPP Expert Patients Programme

EPR Electronic Patient Record

EQUIP Effectiveness and Quality in Practice Group

ER Endoplasmic Reticulum

ERA Education Reform Act 1988

ERA-ETDA European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association

ERDF European Regional Development Fund

ERDIP Electronic Record Development Implementation Programme

ERG electroretinogram

ERI Edinburgh Research and Innovation Limited

ERIC Estates Return Information Collection

EROS Electronic Records in Office Systems

ES Employment Service

ESAT Emergency Services Action Team (obs)

ESF Education Standards Fund

or European Social Fund

ESMI Elderly severely mentally ill - dementia.

ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages

ESP Economic and Social Partnership

ESR Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate

or Electronic Staff Record

ESRA European Society of Regulatory Affairs - now TOPRA

ESRC Economic and Social Science Research Council

ESRI Economic and Social Research Institute - Ireland

ESV Employer Supported Volunteering

ET Executive team

or Environmental Technologies

ETA Estimated Time of Arrival

ETF Environment Task Force

ETP Employer Training Pilot

ETT Endotracheal Tube

EU European Union

EVH Electronic Village Hall - community computing and Internet facility

EWA Enterprise-wide Arrangement

EWTD European Working Time Directive

EYDCP Early Years Development and Childcare Plan

EYDP – Early Years Development Partnership

EYPD Early Years and Play Department

EZ Employment Zone

F

FA Friedreich's Ataxia

FAB Family Action Benchill

FACS Fair Access to Care Services

FACTS Framework for Appropriate Care Throughout Sheffield

FAQ Frequently asked questions

FARR Fixed Asset Restatement Reserve

FAWN Funding Advice Workers Network

FB Foreign Body

FBC Full Business Case - which is submitted to the NHSE for approval when a potential choice for a new development has been made and the costs are known

or Full Blood Count

FC Family Credit now replaced by Tax Credits

or Fixed Cost

or Factor Cost

FCAS Federation of Charity Advice Services

FCDL Federation for Community Development Learning

FCE Finished Consultant Episode - an episode where the patient has completed a period of care under one consultant within one hospital provider and is transferred to another consultant or discharged or dies

FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office

FDA US Food and Drug Administration

FDGB Fall Down Go Boom

FDIU fetal death in utero

FDSRCSEng Fellow in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons in England

FDTL Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning

FE Further Education

FEC Further Education College

FEFC Further Education Funding Council disbanded on 31 March 2001 replaced by the Learning and Skills Council

FENTO Further Education National Training Organisation

FES Family Expenditure Survey

FFA free fatty acids

FFCE first finished consultant episode

FFDRCS Fellow of the Faculty of Dental Surgery Royal College of Surgeons

FFP Fresh Frozen Plasma

FH Family History

FHom Faculty of Homeopathy

FHR Fetal Heart Rate

FHS Family Health Services. Provided by GPs, GDPs, Optometrists, and Pharmacists

FHSA Family Health Service Authority. Role now taken over by the Health Authority

FHSAA Family Health Service Appeal Authority

FHT Fetal Heart Tones

FIAC Federation of Independent Advice Centres

FIBD Found In Bed Dead

FIG Food Initiatives Group

FIPO Federation of Independent Practitioner Organisations

FIS Financial Information Service (run by IPF) or System

or Family Income Supplement (became WFTC)

FITTA Fixed Term Training Appointment

FIU Fraud Investigation Unit

FLK Funny Looking Kid

FLM&D Funny Looking Mum & Dad

FMB Feeling Much Better

FMD Foot and Mouth Disease

FMP Financial Management Programme

FNA Fine Needle Aspiration

FOM Faculty of Occupational Medicine of Royal College of Physicians

FORD Found On Road Dead

FOTS Food on the Stove

FOTW Food on the Wok

fp freezing point

FP10 A prescription form.

FPA Family Planning Association

FPC Family Planning Clinic

or Family Practitioner Committee, which was replaced by the FHSA.

FPharmM Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine

FPHM Faculty of Public Health Medicine

FPS Family Planning Services

or Family Practitioner Services

FR Financial Regulation

FRCA Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists

FRCGP Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners

FRCOG Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

FRCOphth Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists

FRCP Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians

FRCP(Ed) Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

FRCP(Glasg) Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Glasgow

FRCPath Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists

FRCPCH Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

FRCPE Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of England

FRCPI Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland

FRCPS(Glasg) Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow

FRCPsych Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists

FRCR Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists

FRCS Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons

FRCS(Ed) Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

FRCS(Glasg) Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow

FRCSE Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England

FRCSI Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland

FRED Financial Reporting Exposure Draft (draft FRS)

FRFPSG Fellow of the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow

FRIPHH Fellow of the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene

FRS Financial Reporting Standard

or Fellow of the Royal Society

FRSH Fellow of the Royal Society of Health

FS Fresh Start

FSA Food Standards Agency

or Financial Services Authority

FSH Follicle Stimulating Hormone

FSID Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths

FSM Free School Meals

FSO Forum Support Organisations

FSU Family Support Unit - now know as Family Unit (FU).

FT Full Time

or Foundation Trust

FTC Federal Trade Commission

Fte Full Time Equivalent

FU Family Unit. A mixture of residential and outreach work for children and young people and their families.

or follow up

FUBAR Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition

FUD Fear Uncertainty and Doubt - traditional salesman's weapons

FWATAG Flexible Working And Training Advisory Group

FWN Further Work Needed

Fx Fracture

FY Full Year

FY1 Foundation Year 1 (equivalent to House Officer)

FY2 Foundation Year 2 (equivalent to Senior House Officer)

fyc Full Year Cost

FYE Full Year Equivalent

or Effect

G

G-CAT Government IT Catalogue

GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Practice

GAD generalised anxiety

or Government Actuary's Department

GAG Getting Ahead of the Game

GAL Guardian Ad Litem

GALRO Guardian Ad Litem Reporting Officer - these are appointed to represent the best interests of the child. The Guardian is an independent social worker

GAPS Genetic Information And Patient Services, Inc

GAS Gloucestershire Ambulance Service

or Group A Streptococcus

GATB Global Alliance for TB Drug Development

GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services

GAYE Give As You Earn

GBP Pounds sterling - for people who don't have a £ sign

GBS Guillaine-Barre Syndrome

GCC General Chiropractic Council

GCS Glasgow Coma Score

GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education

GDA Guidline Daily Amount

GDC General Dental Council

GDP General Dental Practitioners - dentists who work either in private practice, for the NHS, or offer a combined service

or Gross Domestic Product

GDS General Dental Services

GENECIS General Clinical Information System

GFR Glomerular Filtration Rate

GGHB Greater Glasgow Health Board

GGNHSB Greater Glasgow NHS Board

GH Growth Hormone

GHG General Healthcare Group

GHQ General Health Questionnaire

GHS General Household Survey

GI Gastro-intestinal

GIDA Government Intervention in Deprived Areas

GIGO Garbage In Garbage Out

GIS Geographical Information System - an organised collection of computer hardware and software designed to create, manipulate, analyse and display geographical data.

GISA Glycopeptide-intermediate resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

GIST Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour

GIT Gastro-intestinal Tract

GLA Greater London Authority

GLAD Greater London Association of Disabled People

GLC Greater London Council

glc gas-liquid chromatography

GM Geiger-Muller

GMAS Greater Manchester Ambulance Service

or Greater Manchester Action on Smoking

GMB Formerly the General Municipal and Boilermakers Union

GMC General Medical Council

GMCDP Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People

GMCVO Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation

GMEX Greater Manchester Exhibition centre

GMO genetically modified organisms

GMP Greater Manchester Police

or General Medical Practitioner

GMPTE Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive

GMR Greater Manchester Radio

GMS General Medical Services. Mostly provided by GPs under the NHS (General Medical Services) regulations 1992

GMSC General Medical Services Committee

GNP Gross National Product

GNVQ General National Vocational Qualifications

GO Government Office for the Regions

GO-East Government Office for the East of England

GO-NW Government Office for the North West

GOA Gone On Arrival

GOC Gynaecological Oncology Centre

or General Optical Council

GOEM Government Office for the East Midlands

GOK God Only Knows

GOL Government Office for London

GOMA Get out of My Ambulance

GOMER Get Out Of My Emergency Room (US slang for an unwelcome patient)

GONW Government Office North West

GOP General Optical Council

GORs Government Office for the Regions

GOS General Ophthalmic Service

GOSC General Osteopathic Council

GOSE Government Office for the South East

GOSH Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

GOSW Government Office for the South West

GOWM Government Office for the West Midlands

GOYH Government Office for Yorkshire and The Humber

GP General practitioner - Family doctor

or Green Paper

GPAS General Practice Assessment Survey. Produced by the NPCRDC

GPASS General Practice Administration System Scotland

GPCG GP Commissioning group. See HSC 1998/030

GPEC GP Emergency Centre

GPFC General Practice Finance Corporation

GPFH GP Fund Holder

GPCC GP Commissioning Consultant

GPIAG General Practice Airways Group

GPMSS General Practice Minimum System Specification

GPO Good for Parts Only

GPS Global Positioning System

GPWSI GPs with a special interest

GRE Grant Related Expenditure (replaced by NRE)

GREA Grant Related Expenditure Assessment (replaced by SSA)

GRH Gloucester Royal Hospital

GRIPP Getting Research Into Purchasing and Practice

GSCC General Social Care Council

GSI Government Secure Intranet

GSL General Sales List - a medicine which can be sold anywhere

GSOH Good Sense of Humour just as important in the Health Service as on the lonely hearts pages

GSW Gun Shot Wound

GTLRC Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform Coalition

GTN Glyceryl Trinitrate

or Government Telephone Network

GUCH Grown Up Congenital Heart Patients Association

GUM Genito Urinary medicine. Where STDs are treated

H

H&S Health and Safety

HA Health Authority or

Housing Association

HAS Health Advisory Service

or Human Activity System

HaCCRU Health and Community Care Research Unit based in Liverpool University

HAG Housing Association Grant

HAI Health Acquired Infection

HARP Hulme Action Research Project - works with people with mental health problems

HAS Health Advisory Service now HASCAS

HASCAS Health and Social Care Advisory Service

HASHD Hypertensive ArterioSclerotic Heart Disease

HASSASSA Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudication Act

HAT Housing Action Trust

HAZ Health Action Zone (obs)

Hb Haemoglobin

HB Health Board

or Housing Benefit

HBAI Households Below Average Income

HBG Health Benefit Group

HC Huntingdon's Chorea. Hereditary neurological condition. Now usually called Huntingdon's disease.

or Health Council

or Healthcare Commission

HCA Home Care Assistant - Social care Worker who provides domicilliary care. Formally known as home helps.

or Historic Cost Accounting

HCAG Hospital Consultants Advisory Group

HCG Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin

HCFA Health Care Financing Administration, the federal agency that administers the Medicare, Medicaid and Child Health Insurance Programs in the USA.

HCHS Hospital Community Health Service - hospital services, ambulances and certain community health services such as district nursing. These services are provided mostly by NHS Trusts.

HCIA Health Care Information, An American company which analyses health data. Now part of Solucient.

HCS Holiday Care Service

HCSP Health Care Service for Prisoners

HCW Health Care Worker Provides nursing support in clinical areas. NVQ qualified

HDA Health Development Agency (obs)

or Huntingdon's Disease Association

HDL High Density Lipoprotein

HDM House Dust Mite

HDU High Dependency Unit. One step down from the ITU

HE Health Education

or Higher Education

or haematoxylin and eosin

HEA Health Education Authority now replaced by the HDA

or Health Equity Audit

HEASIG High Ethnicity Authorities' Special Issues Group

HEBS Health Education Board for Scotland

HEED Health Economic Evaluations Database

HEENT Head Eyes Ears Nose and Throat

HEFC Higher Education Funding Council

HEI Higher Education Institution

HEIF Higher Education Innovation Fund

HELMIS Health Management Information Service

HEO Health Education Officer

HEP Health Education Partnership

HEPA High Efficiency Particulate Air

HERO Higher Education and Research Opportunities in the UK

HEROINE Health Electronic Resources Online In Northern England

HES Hospital Episode Statistics

HEVU Health Education Video Unit

HFA Hydrofluoroalkane

HFEA Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

HfHT Help for Health Trust (obs)

HFMA Healthcare Financial Management Association

HGC Human Genetics Commission

HIA Housing Improvement Agency

or Health Impact Assessment

HIB Haemophilus Influenzae type B

HIBCC Health Index Business Communications Council

HImP Health Improvement Programme - an action programme to improve health and healthcare locally .

HIMS Highland and Islands Medical Service

HIP Housing Investment Programme - Annual bidding process for local authority housing departments which determines regional and local allocation of public sector investment in both public and private sector housing

or Health Investment Programme

HIPE Hospital In-Patient Enquiry Scheme

HISN High Individual Support Needs

HISS Hospital Information and Support System

HIV Human Immuno-deficiency Virus

HIU Health Inequalities Unit

HIYE Health in Your Environment

HJSC Hospital Junior Staff Committee

HL7 Health Level 7

HLC Healthy Living Centre

HLF Heritage Lottery Fund

HLI Healthy Living Initiative