One of the biggest challenges to effective multi-agency working / collaboration is having a shared understanding, a shared language.

Every organisation has its own internal short hand and language - perhaps referring to systems that are used, principles, workstreams, titles for different staff. More complex concepts can be quickly described and understood across an organisation that way, especially when acronyms are used.

However, when having discussions or in meetings with other organisations, it can be easy to forget that other people will not always understand what you mean.

Good practice in multi-agency working is to remember not to use abbreviations and acronyms without first using their long form, and checking that all those in the meeting or discussion understand what you mean.

NSAB is a strategic board which has a multitude of partners working together in safeguarding, and we use and come across an equally wide range of abbreviations!

So here are some of the most common you might see on our website, in our documents, or hear at our meetings.

If you think we have missed any, just let us know!

 

ADASS - Association of Directors of Adult Social Services

AMHP - Approved mental health professional (specialist social workers who carry out Mental Health Act assessments alongside similarly specialist doctors)

AP - Assistant practitioner (Norfolk County Council Adult Social Care)

APU - Adult Protection Unit (Norfolk police safeguarding adults officers and staff)

CADS - Child Advice and Duty Service.  Consultant social workers who've had specialist training and use a coaching style to empower partners to be more confident in working with families and meeting needs.

CHC - Continuing Health Care (where the NHS provide funding for services rather than social care)

CoP - Court of Protection (a specialist court which makes specific decisions or appoints other people known as deputies to make decisions on behalf of people who lack the capacity to do so for themselves. The Court of Protection can: decide whether a person ‘has capacity’ (is able) to make a particular decision for themselves; make declarations, decisions or orders on financial or welfare matters affecting people who lack capacity to make these decisions; appoint a deputy to make ongoing decisions for people lacking capacity to make those decisions; decide whether a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) or Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) is valid; remove deputies or attorneys who fail to carry out their duties; hear cases concerning objections to register an LPA or EPA)

CPD - Continuing Professional Development (learning activities that professionals undertake to maintain and develop skills)

CQC - Care Quality Commission (regulator of health and social care services)

CSC - Customer Service Centre (they're the first people you will speak with when you ring Norfolk County Council, and will direct your call to the most relevant person or team)

D2A - Discharge to assess (a strategy where people are discharged from hospital without delay and then have their needs assessed more comprehensively)

DA / DV - Domestic abuse / domestic violence

DARA - Domestic abuse risk assessment (similar to DASH but used only by police at this time)

DASH - Domestic abuse, stalking and honour based abuse (police / multi-agency risk assessment tool)

DASS - Director of Adult Social Services

DASVG - Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Group (a multi-agency strategic delivery group that sets the direction and coordinates the delivery of the partnership response to domestic abuse and sexual violence across Norfolk. It is accountable to the statutory Norfolk Community Safety Partnership (NCSP))

DBS - Disclosure and Barring Service (the service that supports safer recruitment by checking if a person has any convictions or other reasons why they should not work with children or adults at risk)

DARDR - Domestic Abuse Related Death Review - replaces DHR - Domestic Homicide Review (a review into the circumstances around a death of your friend or family member following domestic abuse)

DoLS - Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (a procedure linked to the Mental Capacity Act designed to protect an adult's rights if the care or treatment they receive in a hospital or care home means they are, or may become, deprived of their liberty, and they lack mental capacity to consent to those arrangements)

DWP - Department for Work and Pensions

ECCH - East Coast Community Healthcare

EEAS(T) - East of England Ambulance Service (NHS Trust)

EDT - Emergency Duty Team (out of hours service for Norfolk County Council)

FGM - Female genital mutilation (a procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, injured or changed, but there's no medical reason for this to be done)

GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation

HBA/V - Honour based abuse / violence

ICB - Integrated Care Board (this used to be known as the CCG, or Clinical Commissioning Group; statutory since 2022, ICBs bring together their local health and care organisations to improve outcomes, tackle inequalities through a local plan)

ICBAST - ICB adult safeguarding team

IDVA - Independent domestic violence advocate - an expert in domestic violence - they provide support and practical guidance to help a victim and their family remain safe

IMCA - Independent mental capacity advocate.  An advocate who can act for you if you lack capacity to make certain decisions

ISA - Information sharing agreement

LA - Local authority (e.g. Norfolk County Council)

LGA - Local Government Association

LPA - Lasting power of attorney.  A legal document that enables you to appoint one or more people (attorneys) to help you make decisions, or to make decisions on your behalf

LPS - Liberty Protection Safeguards (had been expected to replace DoLS in a revision to the Mental Capacity Act, but currently on hold)

LSAP - Locality Safeguarding Adults Partnership

LSCG - Locality Safeguarding Children Group

MAPPA - Multi agency public protection arrangements (where various agencies, such as the police and probation services, work together to protect the public by managing risks posed by violent and sexual offenders living in the community)

MARAC - Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (a meeting to discuss ways to help victims at high risk of murder/serious harm)

MASH - Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (a partnership of many organisations working together to keep vulnerable people in the county safe)

MCA - Mental Capacity Act - can also stand for Mental Capacity Assessment

MDT - Multi disciplinary team.  A group of trained staff from different areas of health and social care

MSP - Making Safeguarding Personal (a practice approach which expects safeguarding to be person led and outcome focused - "nothing about me without me")

NCAN - Norfolk Community Advice Network (the Norfolk-wide partnership of advice and community experts that can help you with free, impartial and quality assured advice and assistance)

NCC - Norfolk County Council or Norwich City Council

NCH&C - Norfolk Community Health & Care (NHS Trust)

NCSP - Norfolk Community Safety Partnership

NF&RS - Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service

NFS - Norfolk First Response (care service)

NIDAS - Norfolk Integrated Domestic Abuse Service (a domestic abuse support service for those classed as high and medium risk; they also offer dedicated support for children and young people, recovery programmes, coordinated multi-agency support, court support, a domestic abuse champion network, and training for professionals, across Norfolk)

NSAB - Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board

NSCP - Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership

NSFT - Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (mental health services)

OPCCN - Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Norfolk

OPG - Office of the Public Guardian

OT - Occupational therapist

PSIRF - Patient safety incident response framework (the NHS’s approach to developing and maintaining effective systems and processes for responding to patient safety incidents for the purpose of learning and improving patient safety)

PfAL - Preparing for adult life team (NCC)

PFAT - People from abroad team (NCC)

PIC - Police Investigation Centre

PiPoT - a person in a position of trust is an employee, volunteer or student working with adults who have care and support needs

RCRP - Right Care, Right Person - a national policing approach implemented from 2023, designed to ensure that people of all ages, who have health and/or social care needs, are responded to by the right person, with the right skills, training and experience to best meet their needs. RCRP applies to those with mental health, and other health and social care, needs. In most circumstances, support will be provided by health and social care services.

S42 / Section 42 enquiry - the enquiries made by the local authority under the duties of section 42 of the Care Act 2014 which relate to safeguarding adults

SAB - Safeguarding adults board

SADS - Safeguarding adults data sharing 

SAPC - Safeguarding adults practice consultant (NCC)

SARC - Sexual Assault Referral Centre

SCCE - Social Care Community Engagement service (Norfolk County Council adult social care 'front door' team who support enquiries about adults who have not been known to social care before or who do not currently have an active worker)

SCIE - Social Care Institute for Excellence (an independent charity and improvement agency providing accredited training, consultancy, research and resources for the social care and health sectors)

SI - Serious incident

SLT or SaLT - Speech and language therapist

SSP - Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership

SW - Social worker