NHS Jargon buster – D
- DAT – Drug Action Team
- DAAT – Drug and Alcohol Action Team
- DEB – Dental Estimates Board
- DFES – Department for Education and Skills
- DGH – District General Hospital
- DGM – District General Manager
- DHA – District Health Authority
- DISS – District Information Support Systems
- DMU – Directly Managed Units
- DN – District Nurse/Drafting Note
- DNS – Director of Nursing Services
- DOB – District of Business/Date of Birth
- DEFR – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- DoH – Department of Health
- DPB – Dental Practices Board
- DPH – Director of Public Health
- DPP – Doctor Patient Partnership
- DPR – Data Protection Registrar
- DPT – District Planning Team
- DRO – Dental Reference Officer
- DRS – Dental Reference Service
- DSC – Dental Service Committee/ Disability Services Centre (City Hospital)
- DTI – Department of Trade & Industry
- DTP – Desk Top Publishing
- Data Protection – is covered by the 1984 Data Protection Act and the 1990 Computer Misuse Act and includes eight principles to safeguard data held on individuals
- Daily Take – currently a pilot scheme to manage emergency admission of patients to both Nottingham City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre on a daily basis
- Day-case – treatment which can be performed in a single day, without the need to admit the patient for an overnight stay in hospital
- Deprivation – lacking in direct access to adequate amenities, housing, employment opportunities etc. Levels of deprivation can be assessed by using the standard Townsend measurement, for example, which uses car ownership, unemployment, overcrowding and property ownership as indicators of deprivation
- Dermatology – the diagnosis and treatment of skin disorders
- Department for Education and Skills – the government department led by the secretary of State for Education
- DETR index – national ‘scoring system’ for deprivation. Nottingham City is ranked the 16th most deprived district in England under this system
- Diagnostic tests – tests which help determine the nature of a disorder or illness, for example x-rays, laboratory tests etc
- Disadvantaged communities – areas characterised by high levels of unemployment, poor housing and high crime
- Domestic Violence Forum – representatives from a range of organisations – police, probation service, solicitors etc – which facilitates, encourages and supports inter-agency initiatives on domestic violence
- Drug Action Team / Drug and Alcohol Action Team – a partnership between health, local authorities, the police, probation and prison services established as part of the national initiative “Tackling Drugs Together” in 1995. DAT works to increase the safety of communities from drug-related crime, reduce the health risks related to drug misuse and reduce the availability of drugs to young people
- Drug Action Team Action Plan – an annual plan, produced by the DAT, which describes what will be done locally to reduce the damage caused by drug misuse. The plan has to address four elements: the availability of drugs locally; how young people can be encouraged to resist drug misuse; how communities can be safer from crime caused by drug misuse; how treatment is made available to enable people to live healthy crime free lives
NHS Jargon buster – E
- EA – Executive Assistant
- EAZ – Education Action Zone
- ECR – Extra Contractual Referral
- EDM – Early Day Motion
- EDP` – Education Development Plan
- EDT – Emergency Duty Team
- EHO – Environmental Health Officer
- EL – Executive Letter
- EMAS – East Midlands Ambulance Service
- EMI – Elderly Mentally Ill (or Infirm)
- ENB – English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting
- ENT – Ear, Nose and Throat
- ERDF – European Regional Development Fund
- ESMI – Elderly Severely Mentally Ill (or Infirm)
- EU – European Union
- EXEC – NHS Executive/Executive
- East Midlands Ambulance Service – From April 1999 the Ambulance Service Trusts in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham merged to form one Trust serving the three health districts, providing emergency and urgent medical help, pre-booked patient transport services and health transport services, such as collection and delivery of pathology samples for hospitals and GPs.
- Education Action Zones – local clusters of schools, usually a mix of not more than 20 primary, secondary and special schools, working in partnership with the local education authority, local parents, businesses, Training and Enterprise Council’s and others to encourage innovative approaches to tackling disadvantage and raising standards. The EAZ for Nottingham is the Bulwell area
- Educational Attainment – the expected standard of achievement of school pupils, it is measured at four key stages of the national curriculum, which sets out programmes of study for what each pupil should be taught and the targets each pupil is measured against
- Education Consortia – a multi-agency forum bringing together public and private sector organisations with a role in the planning and development of education, and training for the NHS on a regional basis
- Education Development Plan – all Local Education Authorities (LEAs) have to submit an EDP to the Department for Education and Skills. The plan outlines actions to support school improvement and how the LEA supports and challenges schools to meet it targets which are developed in consultation with schools and other partners in education
- Elective Surgery – an operation which is planned ahead and for which the patient will be given a date to be admitted to hospital
- Electronic Health Record – information relating to health held on computer. Every person in the country is to get a lifelong electronic health record from cradle to grave. It will stay with them even if they change doctor or move around the country. Safeguards for patient confidentiality will be guaranteed
- Emergency Duty Team – the Social Services team which provides a rapid response to anyone in immediate need of social care – for example during holiday periods or out of usual working times
- Endarterectomy – an operation to unblock an artery
- Endoscopy – an examination using a ‘camera’ to view the inside of the body
- Equity Basis – based on fair share
- European Regional Development Fund – the European Union funding targeted at regeneration and increasing economic prosperity
- Excellence for All Children – improving the achievements of children with special educational needs (SEN), part of the agenda for higher standards launched with the White Paper “Excellence in Schools”
- Excellence in Schools – White Paper to raise standards in education over the next five years. Excellence is to be achieved through a partnership of local schools, parents, pupils, teachers, families, local authority’s and the wider community
- Exclusion – the suspension of a pupil from school. The reasons for this action may relate to serious misbehaviour. The exclusion can either be for a fixed period (of up to 45 days over the school year) or permanent (the pupil being removed from that school)
- Executive Letter – these were replaced by Health Service Circulars in 1997. Issued by the NHS Executive, they provide mandatory guidance to the NHS
