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Cancer Outcomes and Services Data Set

Provides the standard for secondary uses information required to support national cancer registration and associated analysis.

Documentation

About this standard

Publisher
NHS England
Reference code
DAPB1521 Amd 89/2022
Publication date
11/09/2023
Status
Active
Show definitions of statuses

Active. Active standards are stable, maintained and have been approved, assured or endorsed for use by qualified bodies.

Deprecated Deprecated standards are available for use and are maintained, but are being phased out, so new functionality will not be added.

Retired standards Retired standards are not being maintained or supported and should not be used.

Standard type
  • Collections
  • Information standards
Show definitions of standard types

Collections. A Collection is a systematic gathering of a specified selection of data or information for a particular stated purpose from existing records held within health and care systems and electronic devices.

Extractions. An extraction is a type of collection that is pulled from an operational system by the data controller and transmitted to the receiver without additional processing or transcription by the sender.

Information standards. Information standards are agreed ways of doing something, written down as a set of precise criteria so they can be used as rules, guidelines, or definitions.

Technical Standards and specifications. Technical standards and specifications specify how to make information available technically including how the data is structured and transported.

Contact point

Using this standard

Applies to
  • Cancer centres and Cancer units
  • Electronic systems\u0027 purchasers (systems used in NHS commissioned cancer centres)
  • Electronic systems\u0027 purchasers (systems used in NHS provider services)
Impacts on
Implementation of this information standard impacts all health IT systems suppliers providing systems to the above providers; suppliers should work with their customers to determine necessary changes. Users of secondary data about cancer will need to review their current use and determine appropriate changes.
Associated medias

Further guidance is published by the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS):

Conformance date
01/07/2024
Effective from
11/09/2023

Topics and care settings

Topic
  • Data definitions and terminologies
  • Reference data
Care setting
  • Hospital
  • Urgent and Emergency Care
Dependencies

This standard needs to be reviewed and implemented alongside the NHS Data Model and Dictionary.

Related standards

Review Information

Scope
NHS Services
Sponsor

Dr Brian Rous, Director of Tumour Classification, National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), NHS England.

Senior Responsible Officer

Sarah Stevens, Director for National Disease Registration, National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), NHS England.

Business Lead
Andrew Murphy, Head of Cancer Datasets, National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), NHS England.
Approval date
22/08/2023
Post Implementation review Date
30/04/2025
Legal authority

Section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012

This information standard is published under section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012

More information

The Cancer Outcomes and Services Data Set (COSD) is a compiled data set, which provides the standard for secondary uses information required to support national cancer registration and associated analysis (at local, regional, national, and international level), as well as other national cancer audit programmes.

COSD v10.0 defines the data, excluding pathology, which cancer services teams need to collect.

COSD Pathology v5.0 is supplied by services directly by their pathology departments.

COSD provides the standard for secondary uses and consists of:

  • a set of individual data items, with their definitions
  • the assemblage of these data items into tumour specific discrete data sets
  • the means of flowing the data items
  • compilation of the data items into two reconciled data sets
    • Patient Pathway
    • Pathology
The data sets relate to all cancer patients, both adult and paediatric, in acute inpatient and outpatient settings, but does not include private patients or primary care.

Page last updated: 14 May 2024