NHS Jargon buster – C
- CAB – Citizens Advice Bureau
- CAMHS – Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services
- cc – Carbon copy (ie: copies to)
- CCP – Community Care Plan
- CCG – Clinical Commissioning Group
- CEG – Community Engagement Group
- CDO – Chief Dental Officer
- CHC – Community Health Council
- CHD – Coronary Heart Disease
- CHE – Centre for Health Economics (York)
- CIC – Common Information Core
- CIMA – Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
- CIPFA – Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy
- CJD – Creutztfeld-Jacob Disease
- CMO – Chief Medical Officer/Clinical Medical Officer
- CNO – Chief Nursing Officer
- CoH – College of Health
- COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- COSHH – Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
- COI – Central Office of Information
- CPA – Care Programme Approach
- CPD – Continuing Professional Development
- CPN – Community Psychiatric Nurse
- CPP – College of Pharmacy Practice
- CPR – Child Protection Register
- CPSM – Councils for the Professions Supplementary to Medicine
- CR – Central Register
- CRC – Clinical Research Council
- CSP – Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
- CTAAC – Cancer Trials Awards and Advisory Committee
- CVCP – Committee of Vice Chancellors & Principals
- CVS – Council for Voluntary Service
- CWP – Changing Workforce Programme
- Caldicott Guardian – the named NHS officer responsible for delivering and implementing the recommendations of the Caldicott report, which examined NHS confidentiality and patient information systems
- Calman – Sir Kenneth Calman, former Chief Medical Officer, author of a major report on the improvement of cancer services, published in 1995. The current Chief Medical Officer is Professor Liam Donaldson
- Cancer Centre – the Nottingham Cancer Centre involves Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust, Queen’s Medical Centre, Primary Care Trusts and the Mid Trent Cancer Network working together to provide specialist cancer care which meets the national standards set out in the Calman-Hine Report. Cancer Centres should ensure that patients receive the same high quality specialist cancer care, regardless of where they live.
- Cancer Services Steering Group – comprises representatives from the Cancer Centre, purchasing authorities and Local Medical Committees, whose functions include developing a strategic approach for both provision and commissioning of cancer services and agreeing development priorities for cancer services.
- Capital – spending on the acquisition of land and premises, and on the provision, adaptation, renewal, replacement or demolition of buildings, equipment and vehicles
- Capital Estate – Collective term for land, buildings, equipment and vehicles.
- Capitation Funding – level of funding based on the number of people living in the district
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – life saving technique involving heart massage and mouth-to-mouth breathing
- Cardiovascular – relates to the circulatory system, comprising of the heart and two other networks of blood vessels, which work together to transport nutrients and oxygen to the tissues and the removal of waste products
- Care and Repair Scheme – an initiative between Ashfield and Mansfield District Councils, health, social services and the DETR to improve the living conditions of people with disabilities, older people and people on benefits, across Ashfield (especially the deprived wards), by providing them with grants for home improvement.
- Cash Limited – where full budgetary responsibility is delegated to local level and where the cash allocation cannot be exceeded
- Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services – specialist mental health services provided to young people aged under 18.
- ChildPlan – a strategy for children’s services produced by Nottinghamshire County Council’s Children’s Services Planning Forum. The Forum acts as the focal point for strategic planning for children’s services and is integral to Nottingham and North Nottinghamshire Health Authorities’ joint commissioning structures. The Forum includes senior representatives from all the statutory agencies with a responsibility for children’s services and four representatives from voluntary agencies
- Child Protection Register – maintained by Social Services to monitor children “at risk” under the Children Act 1989
- Children Act 1989 – brings together in a single legislative framework the private and public law relating to children. It aims to strike a balance between the rights of children to express their views on decisions made about their lives, the rights of parents to exercise their responsibilities towards the child and the duty of the state to intervene where the child’s welfare needs it.
- Children’s Services Plan 1999-2000 – local authorities are required to publish a framework outlining how the statutory agencies intend to support children in need
- Chlamydia – a bacteria, strains of which are a common cause of sexually transmitted infections. If left untreated, it can lead to infertility
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – a history of chronic progressive symptoms of coughing, wheezing or breathlessness caused by an obstruction in the airways that does not return to normal with treatment
- Clinical Audit – a continuous process of assessment, evaluation and adjustment of practice by doctors, nurses and other health professionals
- Clinical Governance – an initiative introduced in the White Paper, New NHS: Modern:Dependable to assure and improve clinical standards at local level throughout the NHS. This includes action to ensure that risks are avoided, that adverse events are rapidly detected, openly investigated and lessons learned, that good practice is rapidly disseminated and that systems are in place to ensure continuous improvements in clinical care
- Clinical Psychology – the assessment and treatment of behavioural and other mental health problems, usually as part of a multi-professional team, for example, including doctors, nurses and social care staff
- Clinicians – a general term for doctors and nurses working directly with patients in all parts of the health service
- Colleges of Further Education – independently managed, they offer educational opportunities to over 16s either full or part-time. Courses can be at various levels, for example NVQ, A level. FE Colleges may be a stepping stone between school and university or a route to vocational training and employment
- Colorectal Cancer – cancer of the colon and/or rectum, commonly known as bowel cancer, it the second most common form of cancer in the UK
- Commissioning – in this context the process of acquiring services to meet the health needs of the local population. Includes patient and carer focused service planning through reviewing, planning and prioritising service developments, implementing the NHS agenda, monitoring service agreements, allocating funds with service providers and investing/dis-investing appropriately in services. Commissioning is done through PCTs and their collaborative commissioning structure, partner agencies, health service providers and the voluntary sector
- Community based health services – services provided outside of a hospital setting, usually in clinics, surgeries or in the patient’s own home
- Community Care – the help and support required to enable people to live independently in their own homes, or in housing facilities in the community. Involves health and social services and other local authority services working together
- Community Care Plans – the inter-agency plans for the provision and delivery of Community Care
- Community Development Strategies – designed to stimulate social and economic well being, promote inclusion and combat disadvantage in local communities
- Community Health Council – An independent statutory NHS body, composed of local people, set up to represent the interests and views of patients, carers and the public. Community Health Councils will soon be phased out to be replaced by Patient Advisory and Liaison Services.
- Community Nurses – a collective term for nursing professionals, including practice nurses, district nurses, health visitors and school nurses
- Community Pharmacists – independent health professionals, commonly known as ‘chemists’ providing services for the dispensing of prescriptions together with advice on treating common illnesses, sale of non prescription medicines and other ancillary goods and services
- Community Safety – multi-agency work with communities to reduce the causes of and fear of crime and anti-social behaviour
- Community Safety Strategies – the practical application of Community Safety. Strategies may include action on drug, alcohol and substance misuse, working with victims or promoting crime prevention
- Continence Services – services for people with incontinence – i.e. the involuntary passing of urine causing wetting
- Continuing Care – a general term used to describe a range of health and social care for patients with longer term illness, for example, older people, adults who are disabled or people with dementia
- Continuing Professional Development – affects members of professions whose institutes control qualifications and practice registration. Most now apply systems of CPD which require members of that profession to show proof that their skills and knowledge are being updated and maintained and this is shown through the maintenance of a personal development plan and log
- Controls Assurance Statements – statements regarding compliance on management of non-clinical roles which Boards of Trusts and Health Authorities are required to sign
- Controls Risk Assurance – the systematic approach to assessing and managing business organisational risks
- Coronary Heart Disease – disease of the blood vessels surrounding the heart. Main risk factors for developing CHD are high blood pressure, smoking and high blood cholesterol levels. All of these risk factors can be improved by changes in lifestyle and related medical treatments
- Core Risk Assessors – individuals within an organisation responsible for identifying and assessing risks
- Corporate Governance – the system by which organisations are directed, accountable and managed
- Cost Improvements – making savings or reductions through increased efficiency
- Crime and Disorder – general term for any behaviour that could lead to criminal prosecution
- Crime and Disorder Act – legislation introduced in 1998 with the aim of reducing crime and disorder employing a multi-agency partnership approach, led by local authorities and the police
- Crime and Disorder Audit – conducted in consultation with the local community and other key partners, this forms the basis of the strategy for crime reduction which is part of the local implementation of the Crime and Disorder Act. The assessment of current crime rates and problems is the starting point for planning effective action over the next three years
- Crime and Youth Justice Partnerships – social services, the police, education, health, probation and voluntary groups all working together to reduce offending and re-offending by juveniles
