Glossary of terms

100 system leaders: A programme that brings together staff from within each clinical and non-clinical transformation programme or roles that span across more than one integrated care partnership organisation to support, encourage and empower them in their joint working. The programme aims to develop the culture of the Fylde Coast Integrated Care Partnership.

Care Quality Commission (CQC): The independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC makes sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care, encouraging services to improve.

Clinical commissioning groups: Clinically-led statutory NHS bodies responsible for planning and buying health and care services for their local area.

Clinical pathways: The standard care provided for a patient having a certain procedure or a patient who has a certain illness.

Clinical senate: A group of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals (such as therapists and pharmacists) and public health practitioners that provides clinical guidance and input on local plans and decisions to drive improvements in the care and experiences of local people. Members leave behind their organisational allegiances to take a Fylde Coast-wide population view, at all times putting the best interests of patients and carers first. Guidance is provided to the Fylde Coast clinical executive committee.

Commissioning: NHS commissioning is the process of planning and buying health services to meet the needs of the population.

Collective commissioning: Commissioning collaboratively across the whole geography of Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Fylde Coast pound: The total money available on the Fylde Coast for health and care services when the budgets of all of the relevant organisations have been considered.

Integrated care: People benefit from care that is person-centred and coordinated within healthcare settings, across mental and physical health and across health and social care. For care to be integrated, care professionals need to bring together all of the different elements of care that a person needs, regardless of which organisation they work for.

Integrated care partnership (ICP): Organisations formally working together to improve the health and care of the whole population they serve. Locally we have the Fylde Coast Integrated Care Partnership – one of five partnerships within Lancashire and South Cumbria – which involves commissioners, local authorities and providers of health and care.

ICP steering group: The ICP steering group consists of senior colleagues from the boards and governing bodies of partner NHS and local authority organisations. The group meets on a monthly basis and has been set up to oversee and develop the work of the Fylde Coast Integrated Care Partnership.

Integrated care system (ICS): Integrated care systems are a way of working, collaboratively, between a range of health and social care organisations, to help improve people's health. It's when organisations work together in a shared way; sharing budgets, staff, resources where appropriate, to best meet people's needs. The Fylde Coast Integrated Care Partnership is part of the wider Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System.

Integrated primary and community care: The bringing together of community based care (for example district nurses), care homes or social care services with primary care services, such as GPs and practice-based nurses, so that services are joined up and work together efficiently thereby creating a better patient experience and improving levels of care.

Multi-disciplinary team: A team with staff from several different disciplines (for example, doctors, nurses and therapists) who have different areas of expertise and are able to support people who require the help of more than one kind of professional.

Neighbourhoods: Geographical areas across which GP practices and other health and care services work together to ensure joined-up care tailored to the needs of their local populations. Covering populations of typically between 30,000 and 50,000 and may or may not align to local authority districts, depending on local arrangements.

Neighbourhood care teams: A Fylde Coast ICP term referring to a multi-disciplinary team working on a neighbourhood level along with GPs. Neighbourhoods and neighbourhood care teams have existed on the Fylde Coast for some time.

NHS England: Leads the National Health Service (NHS) in England, setting its priorities and direction.

NHS Improvement: Supports foundation trusts and NHS trusts to give patients consistently safe, high quality, compassionate care within local health systems that are financially sustainable. From April 2019, NHS England and NHS Improvement began working together as a new single organisation to better support the NHS to deliver improved care for patients.

Outcomes: The difference in someone’s health as a result of their treatment.

Planned care: Planned care is any treatment that doesn't happen as an emergency and usually involves a prearranged appointment. Most patients are referred for planned care from their GP.

Place based commissioning: Commissioners organising themselves so that they collaborate together to address the challenges and improve the health of any defined population. The term ‘place’ is used to describe an area such as the Fylde Coast.

Primary care: Services which are the main or first point of contact for the patient, provided by GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacists.

Primary care networks: A group of GP practices working within a neighbourhood.

Transformation programmes: Programmes of work that seek to change the way in which services are provided to improve outcomes and patient experience. They include representatives from relevant ICP organisations that focus on specific areas of work set by the ICP steering group. The Fylde Coast has four transformation programmes: urgent and emergency care, integrated primary and community care, planned care, and corporate services.

Urgent and emergency care: The care provided to patients when their condition is serious or life-threatening. This commonly refers to the emergency department or A&E, but also includes urgent care centres and the ambulance services.