NHS England has published a roadmap for the Organisation Data Service (ODS), sharing what has been delivered to date and planned changes to June of 2025, with the main objectives of delivering a “single source of truth” for organisation reference data, continuous data enhancements, an agile response to “the changing needs of the NHS”, and products “utilising latest technology (interoperability)”.
So far in 2024, the roadmap notes key changes delivered including the public beta release of the ODS Data Search and Export tool to replace the ODS Portal and ODS DataPoint; the delivery of data changes, advice and guidance for organisations reconfiguring, such as an organisation merger in Humber and North Yorkshire; and the development and testing of solutions to “provide meaningful sub-ICB codes for the 5 London ICBs to address service tickets raised”.
Plans for the remainder of 2024 include the delivery of a new FHIR R4 API for organisation, location and practitioner data, “intended to replace the current STU3 & ORD API after a period of parallel running”; the introduction of a new way to manage ODS codes; the publication of a data quality assessment framework; and the delivery of data changes, advice and guidance for organisations reconfiguring for 1 November 2024.
To June of 2025, planned actions include the implementation of “redeveloped tooling” to load clinician codes to the Spine; improvements in accessibility of ODS reference and metadata; support for the COVID campaign for spring and summer 2025 including vaccination site codes and reference data; and a pilot auditing NHS trust data.
According to the roadmap, engagement is also planned around the need for national reference data “for entities or geographies below ICB level” to be facilitated and published by NHS England. To read the roadmap in full, please click here.
Data in health and care across the NHS
For a recent HTN Now panel discussion, we were joined by David Hammond, deputy chief strategy officer at Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, and Julia Lake, associate director for digital (data) at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, to talk about how their organisations are currently using data, how data can support the move from reactive to proactive care, and how data can support operational service delivery.
Another panel discussion we hosted on the topic of digital integrated care we welcomed Deborah El-Sayed, director of transformation and CDIO at Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB; Dan Bunstone, clinical director at Warrington ICB; Stephen Bromhall, interim chief officer for digital and data at South East Coast Ambulance Service; and Laura Thompson, director of marketing at The Access Group. For this session we discussed topics including approaches to tackling challenges from an ICS perspective; new models of care and pathway transformation; the role of technology in supporting the move from reactive to proactive care; and how a system approach can accelerate preventative care.
HTN took a deep dive into digital and data across Scotland, examining the landscape of digital healthcare in Scotland at present and for the future, as well as speaking to representatives from the Scottish Government, NHS National Services Scotland and Scotland’s Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre, to hear their views on projects and priorities.
Don’t forget to check out our upcoming events, including a panel discussion on utilising data to transform primary care on 5 December, and the HTN AI and Data Awards, which focus on sharing and celebrating how AI and data tools are supporting health and care.
