Glossary for H&WBB November 2021
Abbreviation	In full	Explanation
BAME	Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic	Black, Asian, and minority ethnic, is an umbrella term, common in the United Kingdom, used to describe non-white ethnicities
CDI	Clostridium difficile	Also known as CDI, C. difficile or C. diff, is a bacteria that can infect the bowel and cause diarrhoea. The infection most commonly affects people who have recently been treated with antibiotics.
COVID or COVID-19	Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)	Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses with some causing less severe disease, such as the common cold, and others causing more severe disease, such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronaviruses. They are a different family of viruses to the Influenza viruses that cause the seasonal flu.
DHSC	Department of health and Social Care	The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is the UK government department responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England. The department develops policies and guidelines to improve the quality of care and to meet patient expectations.
DPH	Director of Public Health	Directors of Public Health are responsible for determining the overall vision and objectives for public health in a local area or in a defined area of public health, such as health protection. They are accountable for delivering public health objectives and reporting annually on the outcomes and future work. They may be from any background, but must be qualified specialists in public health and registered with the General Medical Council or General Dental Council or UK Public Health Register.
HCAI	Health Care Acquired Infections or Health Care Associated Infections	These are infections that occur in a healthcare setting (such as a hospital) that a patient didn't have before they came in. Factors such as illness, age and treatment being received can all make patients more vulnerable to infection.
HIV	Human Immunodeficiency Virus	HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
HPB	Health Protection Board	The aim of the Board is to provide assurance to City of York Council and the City of York Health and Wellbeing Board about the adequacy of prevention, surveillance, planning and response with regard to health protection issues
HPV	Human papillomavirus	HPV is the name of a very common group of viruses. They do not cause any problems in most people, but some types can cause genital warts or cancer. In England, girls and boys aged 12 to 13 years are routinely offered the 1st HPV vaccination when they're in school Year 8. The 2nd dose is offered 6 to 24 months after the 1st dose.
IPC	Infection Prevention and Control	IPC prevents or stops the spread of infections in healthcare settings. IPC practices are based on a risk assessment and make use of personal protective equipment that protect healthcare providers from infection and prevent the spread of infection from patient to patient.
MMR	MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine	The MMR vaccine is a safe and effective combined vaccine. It protects against 3 serious illnesses: Measles, Mumps and Rubella (German measles). These highly infectious conditions can easily spread between unvaccinated people. Getting vaccinated is important, as these conditions can also lead to serious problems including meningitis, hearing loss and problems during pregnancy. 2 doses of the MMR vaccine provide the best protection against measles, mumps and rubella.
MRSA	Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus	MRSA is a type of bacteria that's resistant to several widely used antibiotics. This means infections with MRSA can be harder to treat than other bacterial infections. MRSA infections mainly affect people who are staying in hospital. They can be serious, but can usually be treated with antibiotics.
MSM	Men who have sex with men	Men, including those who do not identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual, who engage in sexual activity with other men (used in public health contexts to avoid excluding men who identify as heterosexual).
NCSP	National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP)	The aim of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) is to reduce the harms from untreated chlamydia infection. The harmful effects of chlamydia occur predominantly in women so the opportunistic offer of asymptomatic chlamydia screening outside of sexual health services focuses on women, combined with reducing time to test results and treatment, strengthening partner notification and retesting.
NHSE/I	NHS England Improvement	From 1 April 2019, NHS England and Improvement became a new single organisation to better support the NHS to deliver improved care for patients. This new single operating model was designed to support delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Non-Binary	Nonbinary	The term “nonbinary” can mean different things to different people. At its core, it’s used to describe someone whose gender identity isn’t exclusively male or female.
OHID	Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)	OHID addresses the unacceptable health disparities that exist across the country to help people live longer, healthier lives and reduce the pressure on the health and care system as work is done to reduce the backlog and put social care on a long-term sustainable footing.
OMAB	Outbreak Management Advisory Board	As part of the response to Covid-19, the Government announced the roll-out of the NHS Test and Trace programme across England in June 2020. As part of this response, each council with responsibility for statutory Public Health functions has been asked to lead the local approach, based around an outbreak management plan. A key element of local outbreak management is the engagement of democratically elected councillors/politicians and the key partnership agencies that will contribute to Test and Trace development and delivery.
PHE	Public Health England	Disbanded on 1 October 2021 and replaced by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID).
PHOF	Public Health Outcomes Framework	PHOF sets out a vision for public health that is to improve and protect the nation's health, and improve the health of the poorest fastest. The focus is not only on how long we live – our life expectancy, but on how well we live – our healthy life expectancy and reducing differences between people and communities from different backgrounds.
PIR	Post Incident Review	A post incident review is a process to review the incident information from occurrence to closure. The output of the meeting is a report of potential findings detailing how the incident could have been handled better.
PrEP	pre-exposure prophylaxis	PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, is an HIV prevention method in which people who don’t have HIV take HIV medicine to reduce their risk of getting HIV if they are exposed to the virus. PrEP can stop HIV from taking hold and spreading throughout the body.
RCA	Root Cause Analysis	Root cause analysis (RCA) is the process of discovering the root causes of problems in order to identify appropriate solutions.
SHS	Sexual Health Services	Sexual health clinics (which can also be called family planning, genitourinary medicine (GUM) or sexual and reproductive health clinics), offer support, advice and treatment on a range of sexual health issues from contraception to Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Trans	Transgender	The word “transgender” is an umbrella term that describes those who have a gender that’s different from the sex assigned at birth: male, female, or intersex.
UKHSA	UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)	The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the nation’s new public health body focused on health protection and security. UKHSA operates as an integral part of the public health system and the national security infrastructure. The immediate priority of UKHSA is to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. UKHSA will play a critical role in the route to developing vaccines effective against new and emerging variants. In the longer term, UKHSA will build on the infrastructure developed for COVID-19 to tackle and prevent other infectious diseases and external health threats.