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Health and Social Services

Glossary of Acronyms

Sections A-B, C-D, E-H,I-L, M-O, and S-Z are on separate pages

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

P

P A pharmacy medicine

Pa Pascal

PA Police Authority

or Personal Assistant

PAC Public Accounts Committee

PACE Property Advisers to the Civil Estate

or Promoting Action on Clinical Effectiveness

or Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984

PACS Picture Archiving and Communication System - a replacement for X-ray film

PACT  Prescribing Analysis & Costs - GPs get regular PACT reports from the PPA giving details of their recent prescribing, comparing them with local and national averages.

or Placing, Assessment and Counselling Team

PAD Perpheral Arterial Disease

PAF Performance Assessment Framework

or Public Audit Forum

PAFO Pissed And Fell Over

PAGB Proprietary Association of Great Britain

PALS Patient Advice and Liaison Service

PAMIS Parliamentary Monitoring & Intelligence Service

PAMP Pathogen Associated Molecular Pattern

PAMs  Professions Allied to Medicine - e.g. physiotherapists, OTs etc.

PAR Programme Analysis & Review

PAS Patient Administration System. A main hospital database

PASA Purchasing and Supply Agency

PASG Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment

PAT Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia

or Personnel Accountability Tag

or Professional Association of Teachers

or Policy Action Team

PAYE Pay as you Earn

PBC Public Benefit Corporation

or Practice Based Commissioning

PBL Problem Based Learning

PBR Pre-Budget Report

or Payment By Results

PBRS Public Benefit Recording System

PBx Private Branch Exchange (type of internal telephone network)

PC Primary care

or personal computer

or politically correct

or post cibos - after meals

or Parish Council

or Public Convenience or

Patients' Council

PCA Patient controlled analgesia - usually a morphine pump

PCAG Primary Care Audit Group

PCAP  Primary Care Act Pilot - the NHS (primary care) Act 1997 allows NHS Trusts, NHS employees, qualified bodies and suitably experienced medical practitioners to submit proposals to provide general medical services under a contract with the health authority.

PCG    Primary Care Group (obs) See HSC 1998/230.

or phonocardiogram

PCHR Personal Child Health Record

PCIP   Primary Care Investment Plan

PCL Provision for Credit Liabilities

PCMCN Peninsula Cardiac Managed Clinical Network

PCO Primary Care Organisations

PCP Personal Communication Profile

or Person Centred Planning

PCR Polymerase Chain Reaction

PCRC Primary Care Resource Centre

PCRG Policing & Crime Reduction Group (part of the Home Office)

PCS public and commercial services union

PCT Primary Care Trust

PCV packed cell volume

PDC Public Dividend Capital

PDD Prescribed Daily Dose - the average daily dose which is actually prescribed

or Pervasive Development Disorder

PDFPortable Document Format. A way of publishing electronically which preserves printed formatting information. Needs Adobe Acrobat to view

or Partnership Development Fund

PDO Property Damage Only

PDP Practice Development Plan

or Personal Development Plan

PDR Personal Development Review

PDS Primary Dental Service

or Parkinson's Disease Society

PDSA Plan Do Study Act

PE Physical Examination

or Pulmonary Embolism

PEA Pulseless Electrical Activity

PEARL Pupils Equal And Reactive to Light

PEAT Patient Environment Action Team

PEC PCT Professional Executive Committee

PECS Picture Exchange Communication System

PEDC Potential Elderly Domiciliary Clients (part of SSA)

PEFR Peak Expiry Flow Rate

PEG Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy

PERL Pupils Equal and Reactive to Light

PERT Pontefract Emergency Response Team

PES Public Expenditure Survey

PESC Public Expenditure Survey Committee (obs)

PESR Potential Elderly Supported Residents (part of SSA)

PET Positron Emission Tomography

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

PETS paediatric emergency transfer service

PF Patients' Forum

PFC Patient Focused Care

PFI       Private Finance Initiative. A form of leasing where public authorities pay lease charges for buildings and services over 25 or 30 years rather than borrowing money to pay for the building. Now replaced by PPP, which is entirely different and much better according to HMG.

PFMA Practice Fund Management Allowance - Allowance given to GP fundholders to manage their allocation. The allowance is primarily spent upon staff and equipment.

PFU Private Finance Unit

PGCME Postgraduate and Continuing Medical Education

PGD Postgraduate Dean

or Patient Group Directions

PGEA Postgraduate Education Allowance

PGMDE Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education

pH a measure of acidity or alkalinity

PHA Public Health Alliance Now part of UKPHA

PHAB Physically Disabled and Able-Bodied

PHANYC Public Health Association of New York City

PHC Primary Health Care

PHCT Primary Health Care Team

PHLS  Public Health Laboratory Service

PHCSG Primary Health Care Specialist Group of the British Computer Society

PhD Philosophiae Doctor (Doctor of Philosophy)

PHeL Public Health Electronic Library

PHIS Public Health Institute of Scotland

PHL Public Health Laboratory

PHLS Public Health Laboratory Service

PHO Public Health Observatory

PHP Public Health Practitioner

PHPU Public Health Policy Unit

PHRRC Public Health Research and Resource Centre at the University of Salford

PHSS Personal Health Summary System

PHTLS Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support

PI Performance Indicator

or Parallel Imports

PIA Partnership In Action

or Personal Injury Accident

or Pain in the Ass

or Patient Impact Assessment

PICS Platform for Internet Content Selection

PICU   Paediatric or Psychiatric ICU

PID Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

or Prolapsed Intervertebral Disc - Slipped disc

PIDA Public Interest Disclosure Act

PIG Policy Implementation Groups

or Promoting Independence Grant

or Professional Interest Group

PIL Patient Information Leaflet

PIN Personal identification number

or Prior Identification Notice

PITA Pain In The ass

PIU Performance and Innovation Unit

PLA Pre School Learning Alliance

PLAB Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board

PLP Personal Learning Plan

PLPI Product Licence Parallel Import

PLT Protected Learning Time

PMA Personal Medical Attendant. What insurance companies and the like call the doctor who writes a report for them.

PMD Prescribing Monitoring Document

PMETB Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board

PMF Performance Management Framework

PMI Private Medical Insurance

PMLD Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities

PMN Polymorphonuclear Neutrophil

PMR Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

or progressive muscle relaxation

PMS    Primary Medical Services

PMSG pregnant mare's serum gonadotrophin

PN percussion note - part of the examination of the chest

PND Paroxysmal Nocturnal Dyspnea

or Post Natal Depression

PNL Prior Notification List (of patients for screening)

PNS Peripheral Nervous System

PO Per oral - by mouth

POC Point Of Care

PODS Patient's Own Drugs

POETS Piss Off Early Tomorrow is Saturday

POINT Publications On the INTernet (Department of Health)

POISE Procurement Of Information Systems Effectively The standard procedure followed for procurement of Information systems

POLIS Parliamentary Online Indexing Service

POLST Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment

POM Prescription Only Medicine

POPPS Partnerships for Older People Projects

POPUMET Protection of Persons Undergoing Medical Examination

POQ Piss off quick (Get out of a dangerous situation)

POSIX Portable Operating System Interface

POU Pulmonary Oncology Unit - Chest cancers

POVA Protection Of Vulnerable Adults from Abuse

PPA     Prescription Pricing Authority - costs all prescriptions dispensed in England in order to pay chemists for the costs of the drugs etc. they dispense.

PPARC Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council

PPBS Planning, Programming & Budgeting System

PPD Prescription Pricing Division

PPDP Practice Professional Development Plans

PPDR Practice Profession Development and Revalidation

PPE Personal Protective Equipment

PPF Priorities and Planning Framework

PPG Principal Police Grant

or Planning Policy Guidance

PPI Proton Pump Inhibitor

or Patient and Public Involvement

PPIF Patient and Public Involvement Forum

PPM Planned Preventative Maintenance

PPO Preferred Provider Organisation

PPP Private Patients Plan

or Public Private Partnership

PPPP Public-Private Partnership Programme (aka 4Ps)

PPRS Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme

PPU Private patients unit

PQ Parliamentary Question

or Post Qualification

PQASSO Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations

PR Per rectum

or Public relations (the connection is obvious really)

PRA Preventing and Responding to Aggression

PRATFO Patient Reassured and Told to Fuck Off

PRB Pay Review Body

PREP Post Registration Education and Practice

PREPP Post Registration Education and Preparation for Practice

PRHO Pre-Registration House Officer

PRIAE Policy Research Institute on Ageing & Ethnicity

PRIMIS Primary Care Information Services

PRINCE Projects in Controlled Environments - a standard project management methodology used in all NHS Information systems projects

PRN pro re nata - As required (of medication)

PRO Public Record Office

PRODIGY Prescribing RatiOnally with Decision-support In General-practice studY

PRP Performance Related Pay

PRT Personal Risk Training

PRU Police Resources Unit (part of Home Office)

PSA Prostate Specific Antigen

or Public Service Agreement

PSBR Public Sector Borrowing Requirement

PSC Public Sector Comparator

PSFD Public Sector Financing Deficit

PSG Prescribing Strategy Group

PSHE Personal Social And Health Education

PSI Policy Studies Institute

PSL Period of Study Leave

PSM Professions Supplementary to Medicine

PSNC Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee represents chemists in negotiations with the DOH

PSNCR Public Sector Net Cash Requirement

PSND Public Sector Net Deficit

PSRCS Police Standard Radio Communication System

PSS Personal Social Services

PSSRU Personal Social Services Research Unit

PSU Prescribing Support Unit

PSX Public Service Expenditure

PT         Part Time

or Physiotherapy

Pt Patient

PTA Parent-Teachers Association

or Passenger Transport Authority

PTCA Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty - A balloon opening technique for opening partially blocked coronary arteries

PTE Passenger Transport Executive

PTS Patient transport service

PTSD Post Traumatic stress disorder

PU Prescribing Unit - developed to take account of elderly patients greater need for medication. Patients over 65 count as 3 PUs and those under 65 as one.

PV Per vagina

or Pemphigus Vulgaris

PVC Premature Ventricular Contraction

PVD Peripheral Vascular Disease

PVS Persistent Vegetative State

PW Pressurized Water fire extinguisher

PWC Price Waterhouse Coopers, a firm of accountants

PWLB Public Works Loans Board

PWSA Practitioner with Special Interest

Px Prescribing

PYE Part Year Effect

Q

Q-sign unresponsive person with mouth open and tongue hanging out

QA Quality Assurance

QAA Quality Assurance Authority

QALY Quality Adjusted Life Year

QC Quality Control

or Quick Connect

QCA Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

QDS Four Times Daily

qh quaque hora - every hour

ql quantim libet - as much as wanted

QMC Queen's Medical Centre

QNI Queen's Nursing Institute

QOF Quality and Outcomes Framework

QOL Quality of Life

QP Quality Protects Frank Dobson's castigation of local authorities for historically poor care to children and young people, and the tough PI - led regime designed to improve same

QR Quick Release

qs quantum sufficiat - a sufficient quantity

QSW Qualified Social Worker

qv quod vide Latin for look up the reference.

R

R&D   Research and Development

R&S Recruitment and Selection

RA Research Associate

or Revenue Account

or Regional Assembly

or Rheumatoid arthritis

RA(SG) Revenue Account (Specific Grants)

RADAR Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation

RADTZ Regional Assessment and Diagnostic Treatment Zone

RAE Research Assessment Exercise

RAGE Radiotherapy Action Group Exposure

RAM Risk Allocation Matrix

RAO    Referral and Advice Officer - First point of contact for enquiries about Social Services. Advice and basic information is also provided.

RAP Recurrent Abdominal Pain

or Referrals, Assessments and Packages of Care in Adult Personal Social Services

RAPt Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust

RARM Remote and Rural Medicine

RASP Resource Allocation and Service Planning

RAWP Resource Allocation Working Party

RB Representative Body

RBC Red Blood Corpuscle

rbe relative biological effectiveness

RBMS Referral Booking and Management System

RCA Royal College of Anaesthetists

RCC Rural Community Council

RCCO Revenue Contributions to Capital Outlay

RCCS Revenue Consequences of Capital Schemes

or Reid Clinical Classification System

RCOG Royal College of Gynaecologists

RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners

RCH Residential Care Home

RCHT Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust

RCM Royal College of Midwives

RCN    Royal College of Nursing - Union for nurses.

RCO Refugee Community Organisations

RCOG Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

RCOphth Royal College of Ophthalmologists

RCP Royal College of Physicians

RCPath Royal College of Pathologists

RCPCH Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

RCPE Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

RCPsych Royal College of Psychiatrists

RCR Royal College of Radiologists

RCS Royal College of Surgeons

RCSLT Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

RCT Randomised Control Trial

RCU Regional Co-ordination Unit

RDA Regional Development Agency

or Rural Development Area

RDBMS Relational Database Management System.

RDC Rural District Council (obsolete except in former UK colonies)

or Rural Development Commission

RDF Resource Description Framework

RDN Resource Discovery Network

RDPGPE Regional Director of Postgraduate General Practice Education

RDS Respiratory Distress Syndrome

RDSU Research and Development Support Unit

REA Regional Education Adviser

REACH Research and Education for Children in Asthma or

Retired Executives Action Clearing House

REAL Research, Education, Audit, Libraries

REC Racial Equality Council

REDG Regional Education Development Group

Reg Registrar

REH    Royal Eye Hospital

or Royal Edinburgh Hospital

RES Regional Economic Strategy

RFA Requirements for Accreditation of GP Systems

RFA4 National Accreditation standard for computers

RFAG Rural Fire Authorities' Group

RFC Request for Comment

RFDS Royal Flying Doctor Service

RFID Radio Frequency Identification Technology

RG Registrar-General

RGB Red Green Blue

RGD Revenue Grants Distribution

RGD(RG) Revenue Grants Distribution (Review Group)

RGN Registered General Nurse

Rh Relative humidity

RHA    Regional Health Authority (obsolete)

RHB Regional Hospital Board (obsolete)

RHV Registered Health Visitor

RIBA Royal Institute of British Architects

RICS Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

RIDDOR Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations

RIF Right Iliac Fossa

rINN Recommended International Non-proprietary Name

RIPA Royal Institute of Public Administration

RIPHH Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene

RITA Record of In-Training Assessment

RIU Regulatory Impact Unit

RL Ringer's Lactate

RLAS Red Lights And Sirens

RLG NHS Regional Librarians Group

RLQ Right Lower Quadrant

RLS Restless Legs Syndrome (this is not a jest)

RMA Refuse[s] Medical Assistance

RMCH Royal Manchester Children's Hospital

RMN Registered Mental Nurse

RMO Resident Medical Officer

or Responsible Medical Officer

RNA ribonucleic acid

RNCC Registered Nursing Care Contribution

RNHRD Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases

RNIB Royal National Institute for the Blind

RNID Royal National Institute for Deaf People

RNLI Royal National Lifeboat Institution

RNMH Registered Nurse for the Mentally Handicapped

RNOH Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust

RNTNE Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital

RO Regional Office

or Radio Officer

or Revenue Out-turn

ROC Return on Capital

or Retained Organs Commission (obs)

RoCE Return on Capital Employed

ROE Regional Office for Europe

ROM Range of Movement

ROS Return on Sale

ROSC Return of Spontaneous Circulation

ROSPA Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents

ROT Rule Of Thumb

ROTA Race on the Agenda

RoW Rights of Way or

Rights of Women

RP Reporting Party

RPC Regional Planning Conference (often now part of Regional Assembly)

RPF renal plasma flow

or Rural Policing Fund

RPGD Regional Postgraduate Dean

RPHTF Regional Prison Health Task Force

RPI Retail Price Index

RPIx underlying Retail Price Index (ie, excluding domestic mortgage costs)

RPPG Regional Policy Planning Guidance

RPSGB Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

Rpt Repeat

RQ respiratory quotient

or Reportable Quantity

RR Relative Risk

RRMS Relaxing and Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

RS respiratory system

or Rescue Squad

RSA Royal Society for Arts

RSC Royal Society of Chemistry

RSCG Regional Specialised Commissioning Group

RSCN Registered Sick Children's Nurse

RSD Reflex Sympathetic Disorder

RSG Revenue Support Grant formerly Rate Support Grant

RSH Royal Society of Health

RSI Repetitive Strain Injury

or Rapid Sequence Induction

or Rough Sleepers Initiative

RSIN Rural Stress Information Network

RSL Registered Social Landlord - a Housing Association or similar

RSM Royal Society of Medicine

RSN Real Soon Now - when computer applications will be delivered.

RSP Rural Services Partnership

RSS Royal Statistical Society

RSU Regional Secure Unit - for people who are considered dangerously mentally ill

or Rough Sleepers Unit

RSV Respiratory Syncytial Virus

RSVP Retired and Senior Volunteers Programme

RSW Residential Social Work

RT Radiotherapy

or reaction time (in neurophysiology)

Rt Right

RTA Road Traffic Accident

RTF Regional Task Force

or Rich Text Format

RTIA Receipts Taken Into Account (part of capital control framework)

RTPI Royal Town Planning Institute

RUH Royal United Hospitals Bath

RUQ Right Upper quadrant (of the torso)

RVI Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle

RVSN Regional Voluntary Sector Network

Rx Prescription drugs

RxList Internet Drug Index

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 Last updated 28/09/07