ASC IPC guidance: index of abbreviations
Published 28 October 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infection-prevention-and-control-ipc-in-adult-social-care-asc/asc-ipc-guidance-index-of-abbreviations
This section explains common words, terms, and abbreviations used throughout the IPC resource. It provides clear definitions to help staff understand key infection prevention and control concepts and use the guidance confidently in practice.
| Full name | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Aerosol Generating Procedures | AGP |
| Acute Respiratory Infection | ARI |
| Adult Social Care | ASC |
| Alcohol-Based Hand Rub | ABHR |
| Antimicrobial Resistance | AMR |
| Antimicrobial Stewardship | AMS |
| Bilevel positive airway pressure | BiPAP |
| Blood-Borne Virus | BBV |
| Care Quality Commission | CQC |
| Catheter‑Associated Urinary Tract Infection | CAUTI |
| Clostridioides difficile Infection | CDI |
| Continuous positive airway pressure | CPAP |
| Control of Substances Hazardous to Health | COSHH |
| Department of Health and Social Care | DHSC |
| Diagnostic Decision Tool | DDT |
| Diarrhoea and Vomiting | D&V |
| Environmental Health Officers | EHOs |
| European Norm | EN |
| Filtering Face Piece Class 3 | FFP3 |
| Fluid- Resistant Surgical Mask | FRSM |
| Food standards agency | FSA |
| General Practitioner | GP |
| Group A Streptococcus | GAS |
| Health and Safety Executive | HSE |
| Health Building Note | HBN |
| Health Protection team | HPT |
| Health Technical Memorandum | HTM |
| High Consequence Infectious Disease | HCID |
| Infection Prevention and Control | IPC |
| Infection Prevention and Control teams | IPCT |
| Integrated Care Boards | ICBs |
| Integrated Care Systems | ICS |
| Invasive Group A Streptococcus | IGAS |
| Local Authority | LA |
| Medicines Administration Record | MAR |
| Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency | MHRA |
| Mental Capacity Act | MCA |
| Multidrug-resistant organisms | MDROs |
| National Early Warning Score 2 | NEWS2 |
| National Health Service | NHS |
| Naso-gastric | NG |
| Notifications of Infectious Diseases | NOIDs |
| Parts per Million | PPM |
| Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy | PEG |
| Personal Protective Equipment | PPE |
| Respiratory protective equipment | RPE |
| Respiratory syncytial virus | RSV |
| Standard infection control precautions | SICPs |
| Suspect, Individual (person), Gloves and aprons, Hand washing, Test stool sample | SIGHT |
| Transmission-Based Precautions | TBPs |
| Tuberculosis | TB |
| UK Health Security Agency | UKHSA |
| Urinary Tract Infection | UTI |