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Abbreviations in PM land

As technology continues to advance rather rapidly, do you ever wonder what the impact upon the English language will be in the future? Most of us have a smartphone, it predicts text, completes words for us (sometimes inappropriately) too! Processes are shortened to make it easier for us, the user.

But if we move the focus to General Practice and look at abbreviations, it may come as no surprise that there are just so many abbreviations in use today that it is often hard to have a conversation which does not include some form of an abbreviated word.

Before you read on, take a look at our video here, just to gain an insight into some of the abbreviations used today.

Abbreviations in PM land

Surprised or shocked? Did you understand it? A two and a half minute conversation in which Phil, our policy manager, managed to use 50 abbreviations! So, if you didn’t understand the ABBRs, here’s what they mean:

TBH – To be honest
TLAs – Three letter abbreviations
PM – Practice Manager
ABBR – Abbreviation
BTW – By the way
FYFV – Five Year Forward View
AFC – Agenda for Change
BMA – British Medical Association
CCG – Clinical Commissioning Group
TBF – To be fair
GP – General Practice/Practitioner
HEE – Health Education England
GMC – General Medical Council
BMJ – British Medical Journal
OMG – Oh my God
CQC – Care Quality Commission
CQUINs – Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (Payment framework)
MDT – Multi Disciplinary Team
ICP – Integrated Care Pathway
MHRA – Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
GPhC – General Pharmaceutical Council
BNF – British National Formulary
ANP – Advanced Nurse Practitioner
AHP – Allied Health Professional
EPR – Electronic Patient Record
EPS – Electronic Prescription Service
ERS – E Referral Service
NAG – National Advisory Group
NICE – National Institute for Health & Care Excellence
APMS – Alternative Provider of Medical Services
PMS – Personal Medical Services
GMS – General Medical Services
ITT – Invitation to Tender
PALS – Patient Advice and Liaison Service
FOI – Freedom of Information
PPG – Patient Participation Group
LMC – Local Medical Council
EMIS – Egton Medical Information System (commonly known now as EMIS Health)
CQRS – Calculating Quality Reporting Service
QOF – Quality & Outcomes Framework
NHS – National Health Service
HRA – Health Research Authority
VLOG – video log
PbR – Payment by Results
LA – Local Authority
LDP – Local Delivery Plan
PLT – Protected Learning Time
TOR – Terms of Reference
JD – Job Description
TTFN – Ta Ta for Now

To continue this theme, please do post some of the more unusual abbreviations you’ve heard in general practice or perhaps those which you are unsure of the meaning. The aim of this is to build a list of abbreviations which practices can then refer to, should an ABBR appear and you think WTH?

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Practice Index

We are a dedicated team delivering news and free services to GP Practice Managers across the UK.

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