Sector Acronyms
Here’s a list of the most commonly used acronyms within the sector. If you think we’re missing any, please do let us know below.
Sector Acronyms
| Acronym | Full term | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BNSSG | NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board | The Integrated Care Board that will "cluster" with Gloucestershire ICB later this year, with a view to a formal merger from April 2026 or April 2027, once any changes to local authority boundaries have been settled. |
| CAMHS | Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services | Provides a comprehensive range of specialist emotional wellbeing and mental health services for all children and young people aged under 18 who are registered with a GP in Gloucestershire |
| CICs | Community Interest Companies | Limited companies, with special additional features, created for the use of people who want to conduct a business or other activity for community benefit, and not purely for private advantage. |
| CMHT | Community Mental Health Transformation | The development of new community models to provide easier access to mental health support, shorter waiting times, and more personalised care. |
| CPG | Clinical Programme Groups | Clinical Programme Groups (CPGs) design the way healthcare is delivered to the population of Gloucestershire. Each CPG covers a different specialism e.g. diabetes, frailty & dementia. |
| CSR | Corporate Social Responsibility | Corporate social responsibility is a type of self-regulation where your business holds itself to account by ensuring its operations make a positive social impact. CSR initiatives are widely accepted as good practice within corporate governance, and have gradually evolved from a purely voluntary undertaking to a legal requirement. In other words, the law now requires certain businesses to undertake various forms of self-accountability. |
| DBS | Disclosure and Barring Service | A DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service check) is a criminal record check conducted in the UK to help employers make informed recruitment decisions. It is often required for roles that involve working with children or vulnerable adults, ensuring that individuals do not have a history that would make them unsuitable for such positions. The DBS check provides a clear picture of an individual's criminal record, identifying any relevant offences, whether spent or unspent. |
| GCC | Gloucestershire County Council | The upper-tier local authority for Gloucestershire. |
| GP | General Practitioner | A medical doctor who works in primary care and provides general healthcare services to patients within the NHS system. GPs are usually the first point of contact for individuals seeking medical advice, treatment, or a diagnosis. They are highly trained professionals who provide a broad range of services, from managing common illnesses to offering preventative care and coordinating more specialised treatments. |
| ICB | Integrated Care Board | Integrated care boards (ICBs) replaced clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the NHS in England from 1 July 2022. Their aim is to coordinate services and to plan in a way that improves population health and reduce inequalities between different groups. |
| ICS | Integrated Care System | Established in July 2022 aiming to: improve outcomes in population health and healthcare, tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience and access, enhance productivity and value for money, help the NHS support broader social and economic development. |
| ILPs | Integrated Locality Partnerships | ILPs are partnerships made up of local Government, NHS, Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, housing and increasingly communities, people and wider partners such as police, education etc. They work with each other to bring services together and plan how they are delivered to their local populations. They work at district level (Forest of Dean, Gloucester City, Cheltenham, Cotswold, Stroud & Berkeley Vale) & Tewkesbury. |
| LA | Local Authority | The County Council (GCC) is responsible for services like education (schools), social care and transport. The district councils are responsible for housing, waste etc. The district councils include Cheltenham Borough Council, Gloucester City Council, Cotswold District Council, Forest of Dean District Council, Stroud District Council and Tewskesbury Borough Council |
| MASH | Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub | MASH includes professionals from Children’s Social Care, Police, Early Help, Education, Domestic Abuse Services (GDASS), Health Trusts, Drug & Alcohol Services (VIA). These agencies collaborate to share information securely and make informed decisions about child safety. | PCNs | Primary Care Networks | Primary care networks (also known as Integrated Neighbourhood Teams) are made up of a group of GP practices working together, in partnership with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local area. | VCS | Voluntary and Community Sector | The collective name for not-for-profit organisations. |
| VCSE | Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise | The collective term for the “Third Sector”, including charities, trusts, CICs. |