Acute healthcare -Medical and surgical treatment usually provided in a hospital setting. See Secondary Care
Acute trust – NHS trust which manages hospital services eg Worcester Acute Hospitals Trust
Affordability – The ability to do something without incurring financial difficulty
Clinical – Relating to patient care eg clinical evidence, clinical practice
Clinicians -A health professional, such as a family doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, or nurse, involved in clinical practice
Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) -Led by local GPs, CCGs are the bodies that will hold health budgets and take on the responsibility for purchasing health services to meet the needs of local communities. Currently setting up, CCGs will become fully functional in April 2013 and replace PCTs. See also Commission, Commissioner, Primary Care Trusts
Commission – To decide on behalf of a local population what type, quantity and quality of services it requires, obtain the services from service providers and monitor the way they are provided. See also Clinical Commissioning Groups, Primary Care Trust
Commissioner – The person or body who decides on behalf of a local population what type, quantity and quality of services it requires, obtain the services from service providers and monitor the way they are provided. See also Clinical Commissioning Groups, Primary Care Trust
Community – A specific group of people who all hold something in common, either people who share locality or geographical place, or people who share communities of interest
Community or primary healthcare – NHS services provided outside a hospital. Community health staff include district nurses, health visitor, community midwives, district dieticians, chiropodists and community psychiatric nurses. Many community staff are attached to GP practices and health
Consultation – Offering a number of options or choices to patients and public on what a partnership or service provider is planning to do. There may be some negotiation when peoples’ comments are taken into consideration. See also Formal Consultation
Department of Health – The Government department responsible for all public health issues
Elective care -Elective care is pre-arranged, non-emergency care that includes scheduled operations. It is provided by medical specialists in a hospital or other secondary care setting. Patients are usually referred from a primary care professional such as a GP
Focus group – A focus group is a small group discussion used to help the development of products or services by providing the opportunity to examine and explore in-depth customers’ reasoning, motivations and views which cannot be achieved through quantitative research
Formal Consultation – A formal, time-bound, public, written exercise designed to seek views from those who would be affected by, or those who have a particular interest in, proposed new services or changes in services. See also Consultation
GP -A doctor who treats a variety of illnesses and diseases, providing preventative care and health education for everyone. Usually, but not always, based in the community
Healthcare - The diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans
Life expectancy – The age until which a person is expected to life
Paediatrics -The branch of medicine that deals with the care of infants and children
Patient safety – The process by which an organisation makes patient care safe and minimises the risk of accident, injury or medical error
Planned care -Those healthcare services which can be planned in advance eg consultant appointments, non urgent surgery
Primary care - The first contact a patient has with a healthcare provider, usually a GP, dentist or optician.
Primary Care Trust (PCT) - NHS organisation which commissions local health services on behalf of local people. In 2013, PCTs will be replaced by GP consortia (groups of GP practices). See also Commission and Commissioner
Quality - The degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge. There are often six dimensions to quality: safety, effectiveness, patient centredness, timeliness, efficiency and equity.
Secondary care - A healthcare service provided by medical specialists who generally do not have first contact with patients. Secondary care is usually delivered in hospitals or clinics and patients have usually been referred to secondary care by their primary care provider (usually their GP).
Stakeholder - People and organisations with a shared interest in an issue, either because they may be affected or be able to affect a decision about it
Tertiary care -Specialised consultative health care, usually for inpatients and on referral from a primary or secondary health professional, in a facility that has staff and equipment for advanced medical investigation and treatment. Examples of tertiary care are cancer management and heart surgery.
Trauma care – The care provided to people with serious and often multiple injuries where there is a strong possibility of death or disability eg road accident victims
