Access

To gain access to DID, your Caldicott Guardian emails a completed DID data user certificate (DUC) to ssd.nationalservicedesk@nhs.net

Please contact national service desk with any access queries: ssd.nationalservicedesk@nhs.net

Part of the process of registering for DID will be the creation of a Single Sign-On (SSO) user account for NHS England. When you are invited to join the system, if you don't already have one, you will be taken through the process of creating an SSO. 

Validations and guidance

For the validations described below, you will only see the first 200 warnings generated for each submitted file. All records are validated in the same way and the limit on warnings displayed is to avoid any performance issues when large lists of warnings are generated.

The data you submit must conform to one of the acceptable formats for Referrer Code, if not the system will convert it to ‘99’ which indicates the value submitted was invalid. The system will generate a warning for every invalid Referrer Code value. We will be monitoring the level of invalid data by trust and you should take action to clean your own data before submission.

Invalid Referrer Codes will result in an error being generated and your submission will be rejected. Full details of the acceptable formats for Referrer Code and other data items are available on the DID data product webpage.  

XML Schema Specifications Pack

GP and GP practice related data downloads

FAQs

1. How do we get the required data out of our RIS?

You will need to run an extract using the statistical programme associated with your RIS. In some cases your RIS supplier will have set up this query for you, to extract the data required for this return. You should check this with your RIS supplier. For other systems you may need to initially design a query yourself, which you can then run each month, and simply change the dates for the data required.

2. Where do we submit this data?

You submit data to this website. Registered submitters can click the Submissions tab above.

3. In what format do I need to submit the data?

It is expected that users submit DID data in either XML or CSV format.  If submitting the data as .xml it will need to comply with the xml schema. 

4. How often do we need to submit data?

You will need to submit data on a monthly basis. 

The requirement is only to submit one month of data, with updates where there has been an increase in the quality of the data submitted - for example if more data has become available since the initial submission.

5. Will we be able to see the data we have submitted?

You will be sent a receipt for the data you have uploaded. 

Annual tables of DID data are published and updated monthly.  Monthly updates to the DID are provisional but become finalised approximately 3 months later.  The statistics for 2012-13 to 2023-24 have now been finalised and are no longer provisional.

The Data Quality Maturity Index (DQMI) is a monthly publication about data quality in the NHS, which provides data submitters with timely and transparent information. It displays data for all submitters and covers other submissions as well as DID. 

6. How do I find out what my provider site code is?

You can find this out by visiting NHS England's Organisation Data Service.