About the NHS Standards Directory
The NHS Standards Directory helps you find information standards, technical standards, collections and extractions used across health and care.
What this service provides
The NHS Standards Directory helps people find standards that support digital systems used by health and adult social care services in England.
It brings together nationally recognised standards and provides information about how they are used and implemented.
The NHS Standards Directory hosts and signposts to information standards that are currently recognised, as well as to those we are aware are being developed for future use across the health and care system in England.
Who should use this service
This service is recommended for anyone who builds, buys, commissions or uses digital technology in health and adult social care.
These include (but are not limited to):
- Healthcare providers
- Adult social care providers
- IT suppliers
- Software developers
- Procurement teams
- Performance managers
- Authors of standards
Types of standards
Standards are grouped into different categories based on what they do, some standards may appear in more than one category.
Collections
Collections define what information should be gathered for a particular purpose, such as national reporting or service planning.
Used by
Organisations collecting data.Example
Gathering information needed for statutory reporting and service planning.Extractions
Extractions describe how information is taken from systems and shared with another organisation without changing the data.
Used by
Organisations sharing data between systems.Example
Sending data from a care record system to NHS England.Technical standards
Technical standards explain how digital systems exchange information so they can work together reliably.
Used by
Software suppliers and developers.Example
Connecting two systems so they can exchange information.Information standards
Information standards define how information should be recorded and used so everyone works in a consistent way.
Used by
Health and social care providers.Example
Recording a person's date of birth or address in a universal format.
What is not included
The NHS Standards Directory does not currently include clinical care standards.
This includes:
- Clinical guidelines
- Treatment pathways
- Standards for clinical practice
The directory focuses on information standards, technical standards, collections and extractions that support health and care services.
Why standards matter
Better health and care outcomes are at the heart of information standards. They help ensure health and social care professionals have access to accurate, reliable information to support safe and effective care. Many information standards are also mandatory or required as part of legislation.
Using standards helps organisations to:
- Record and exchange information consistently
- Improve data quality
- Reduce duplication of effort
- Analyse information more effectively
- Enable interoperability between systems
- Support safer and more efficient care
Who manages this service?
The service is managed by NHS England working with organisations involved in standards development, assurance, governance and implementation.
Contact the team at: england.interop.standards@nhs.net
Give feedback
This service is in development and is continually improved through user feedback. To report a problem or suggest an improvement go to our feedback page.
Standards for specialist services
The Adult Social Care Standards Directory
The Adult Social Care Standards Directory, also referred to as the Adult Social Care Terminology Data Catalogue, contains a set of standards for collecting and using information in adult social care for Digital Social Care Records (DSCR). This service is powered by the NHS Standards Directory.