HIV and AIDS Reporting System
A data set that underpins national HIV surveillance.
About this standard
- Publisher
- NHS England
- Also known as
- Also known as HARS.
- Reference code
- SCCI1570 (Amd 20/2015)
- Publication date
- 31/10/2016
- 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.
- Collection level
Record level
- Frequency
Dataset publication or collection occurs every three months.
- Contact point
Link to standard
- Documentation
- opens in a new tab
(opens in new tab)
- Applies to
- Staff working in HIV and GUM clinics that provide care to HIV outpatients
- Scientific and public health staff working at Public Health England
- Local authorities
- Primary care trusts
- Commissioners
- Strategic health authority staff who plan services and manage performance
- Department of Health staff who plan services and manage performance
- Impacts on
- Implementation of the change to this information standard impacts all health IT systems suppliers providing systems to the above providers; suppliers should work with their customers to determine and implement necessary changes.
- Associated medias
- Conformance date
- 31/03/2017
- Effective from
- 01/11/2016
Topics and care settings
- Topic
- Data definitions and terminologies
- Care setting
- GP / Primary care
Dependencies and related standards
- Dependencies
No known dependencies.
- Related standards
No known related standards.
Review Information
- Scope
- Health Services, NHS Services, Local Authorities
- Sponsor
Valerie Delpech, Head of National HIV surveillance, Public Health England
- Senior Responsible Officer
Alison Brown, Principal Scientist, Public Health England
- Business Lead
- Cuong Chau, HIV Data Manager, HIV and AIDS, Public Health England
- Approval date
- 28/09/2016
- Post Implementation review Date
- 31/03/2018
Legal basis and endorsements
- 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 HIV and AIDS Reporting System (HARS) is a dataset that underpins national HIV surveillance. It is a quarterly reported patient level dataset capturing all HIV attendances in NHS funded outpatient services.
The HARS dataset is used to:
- Inform the public health response and policy formulation for HIV in England.
- Identify the groups at risk of HIV infection in England
- Monitor the short and long term clinical outcomes of people living with HIV infection.
- Monitor the effectiveness of the national policies and guidance.
- Adapt and refine interventions, as appropriate.
Secondary analyses allow the production of aggregate outputs that are used to:
- Directly support the commissioning of HIV services through collation of data.
- Inform the national HIV outpatient tariff for payment by results.
- Conduct performance management at the local authority and national level.
About this change
HIV is a rapidly evolving field and the changes included in this release are to ensure the dataset is up to date with the developments in diagnosis and treatment and remains fit for purpose.
The changes are categorised into 3 groups:
- Addition of new data items
- Amendment of existing data items
- Retirement of data items
Page last updated: 03 May 2024