OPCS Classification of Interventions and Procedures
OPCS-4 is a statistical classification for clinical coding of hospital interventions and procedures undertaken by the NHS.
Contents
- Documentation
About this standard
- Publisher
- NHS England
- Also known as
- OPCS-4 Classification of Interventions and Procedures
- Reference code
- DAPB0084 Amd 36/2025
- Publication date
- 6 November 2025
- Publication version
- 4.11.0
- 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
- 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
support.digitalservices@nhs.net
Using this standard
- Associated medias
- Applies to
- All providers of NHS funded hospital 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.
- Effective from
- 1 April 2026
Topics and care settings
- Topic
- Data definitions and terminologies
- Reference data
- Care setting
- Community health
- Hospital
- Maternity
- Mental health
- Urgent and Emergency Care
Dependencies and related standards
- Related standards
- International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems (ICD-10)SCCI0021
- SNOMED CTSCCI0034
- Clinical Risk Management: its Application in the Deployment and Use of Health IT SystemsDCB0160
- Clinical Risk Management: its Application in the Manufacture of Health IT SystemsDCB0129
- International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems (ICD-10)
Review Information
- Scope
- NHS Services
- Approval date
- 29 October 2025
- Technical Committee
Data Assurance Board (DAB)
Legal basis
- Link to Information Standards Notice (ISN)
- View the information standards notice
Information Standards Notices (ISNs) are published to announce new or changes to information standards published under section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012
- 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
OPCS-4 Classification of Interventions and Procedures is a mandatory information standard used for the clinical coding of hospital interventions and procedures undertaken by the NHS. It supports analysis of healthcare data across the NHS. Previous releases were produced in two paper volumes, OPCS-4.11 will migrate to an online web browser only, called ‘NHS Classifications Browser’. OPCS-4.11 includes new codes, retirements and changes to code descriptions, notes, and changes to the Alphabetical Index. In total there are 5114 amendments proposed to OPCS-4.11
Page last updated: 13 May 2026