Universal glossary
This page provides definitions for key terms used in survey documents and on this website. For further information, please contact the Survey Coordination Centre.
Adult inpatient
Any person having at least one overnight stay (see below) and aged 16 years or over.
Care Cluster Code
Mental health service users are assessed and given a care cluster code to classify their level of need based on their characteristics. We accept the following care cluster codes only:
0. Variance
1. Common mental health problems (low severity)
2. Common mental health problems
3. Non-psychotic (moderate severity)
4. Non-psychotic (severe)
5. Non-psychotic (very severe)
6. Non-psychotic disorders of overvalued Ideas
7. Enduring non-psychotic disorders (high disability)
8. Non-psychotic chaotic and challenging disorders
10. First episode in psychosis
11. Ongoing recurrent psychosis (low symptoms)
12. Ongoing or recurrent psychosis (high disability)
13. Ongoing or recurrent psychosis (high symptom and disability)
14. Psychotic crisis
15. Severe psychotic depression
16. Dual diagnosis (substance abuse and mental illness)
17. Psychosis and affective disorder difficult to engage
18. Cognitive impairment (low need)
19. Cognitive impairment or dementia (moderate need)
20. Cognitive impairment or dementia (high need)
21. Cognitive impairment or dementia (high physical or engagement needs)
99. No cluster assigned
Care Programme Approach (CPA)
CPA status identifies the complexity of mental health service users’ needs. A user on CPA has complex conditions and would be assigned a care coordinator to manage their care plan whereas those not on CPA have a less complex situation and do not require a care coordinator. Service users on CPA, not on CPA or with unknown CPA all should be included in the Community Mental Health Survey.
Current inpatient
For the purposes of the Inpatient Survey, we define a current inpatient as a participant who meets the inclusion criteria for the survey and is a current inpatient at any hospital in England.
Patients are considered to have had an overnight stay if they were admitted to hospital and were occupying a bed at midnight, e.g. patients who are admitted on Day 1 and discharged on Day 2 are considered to have had a single overnight stay, regardless of their admission time or discharge time. Day cases and outpatients are not included in this survey, because they do not stay overnight in hospital.
Please check your own trust records for any current inpatients during sampling and exclude these people from the sample during the sampling phase only. If you are aware that a patient is a current inpatient at another trust you should also exclude this person. When checks for deceased patients are carried out prior to subsequent mailings do not check for, or exclude, current inpatients.
Obstetrics/Maternity patients
Any patients with Admission Method codes of 31 (ante-partum) and 32 (post-partum), ICD10 chapter codes of XV (if ICD-10 codes are available) and treatment function codes of 502 (gynaecology).
Overnight stay
Patients are considered to have had an overnight stay if they were admitted to hospital and were occupying a bed at midnight, e.g. patients who are admitted on Day 1 and discharged on Day 2 are considered to have had a single overnight stay, regardless of their admission time or discharge time.
Psychiatry patients
Psychiatry patients includes all those with treatment function codes of:
700. learning disability
710. adult mental illness
711. child and adolescent psychiatry
712. forensic psychiatry
713. psychotherapy
715. old age psychiatry
720. eating disorders
721. addiction services
722. liaison psychiatry
723. psychiatric intensive care
724. perinatal psychiatry
725. mental health recovery and rehabilitation service
726. mental health dual diagnosis service
727. dementia assessment service
Research Governance Framework
This outlines the principles of good research practice and is key to ensuring that health and social care research is conducted to high scientific and ethical standards.
Section 251 Approval and Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG)
The purpose of CAG in reviewing a proposed studies application for Section 251 Approval is to ensure that the request for the transfer of patient identifiable data (patient names and addresses) by a trust to a third party is valid, without specific consent from the patient. A favourable opinion from the committee implies that there is a valid and public need for the survey to proceed and that data can be transferred without consent for this purpose only.
Type 1 emergency department
A major, consultant led A&E Department with full resuscitation facilities and designated accommodation for the reception of A&E patients which operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Type 3 emergency department
A type of A&E/minor injury activity with designated accommodation for the reception of accident and emergency patients. The department may be doctor-led or nurse-led and treats at least minor injuries and illnesses and can be routinely accessed without appointment. Type 3 departments are often Urgent Care Centres (UCC) or Minor Injury Units (MIU). A service that is mainly or entirely appointment-based (for example a GP practice or outpatient clinic) is excluded even though it may treat a number of patients with minor illness or injury. Walk-in centres are not classed as type 3 departments.