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Ztest standard4: Implementation Guidance

2. Requirements (page 1 of 1) in 2. Requirements (chapter 3 of 3) within Ztest standard4: Implementation Guidance

This section outlines the responsibilities for Health and Care organisations, IT system suppliers, and NHS England in implementing the NWD Standard.

2.1 Health and Care Organisations – Requirements

  • NWD must be used for:
    • Workforce Minimum Data Set submissions (e.g. R00433, DAPB4034)
    • Earnings surveys and sickness/absence returns
    • Workforce Planning, Equality Standards reporting
  • Compliance is required by 1 March 2026, with systems updated by 1 September 2025.
  • NWD should also be used for local, regional, and national workforce planning.
%%{ init: { 'theme': 'base' } }%% flowchart TD A[Health & Care Orgs] --> B[NWD Use in HR & Planning] B --> C[wMDS, Sickness, Earnings Surveys] B --> D[Workforce Planning Reports]

2.1.1 Conformance Criteria – Health and Care Organisations

  • Staff awareness of ISN 2/2025 by September 2025
  • Staff training completed by March 2026
  • System values updated by September 2025
  • Internal processes aligned by March 2026
  • Implementation monitored through query and complaint volumes

2.2 IT Systems – Requirements

All system suppliers (e.g. ESR, Trac, NHS Jobs) must update their systems to reflect changes described in the Information Standards Notice (ISN) within six months of its publication.

  • System owners should subscribe to standard ISN communications
  • Changes must be implemented by 1 September 2025

2.2.1 Conformance Criteria – IT Systems

  • Systems must reflect updated values within six months of ISN
  • Suppliers must work with stakeholders to ensure updates are correct
  • Guidance documentation must inform any local extensions
%%{ init: { 'theme': 'base' } }%% graph LR A[ISN Published] --> B[Suppliers Update Systems] B --> C[NWD Values Available in UI] C --> D[Data Captured at Source] D --> E[Compliance by Sept 2025]

2.3 NHS England – Requirements

  • Must provide updated guidance by August 2025
  • Must issue communications plan by August 2025
  • Must monitor uptake and report issues to stakeholders

2.3.1 Conformance Criteria – NHS England

  • Effective guidance and communication visible by drop in queries/complaints
  • Feedback from ESR HR SIG and stakeholders used to verify success
%%{ init: { 'theme': 'base' } }%% flowchart TD NHS_England -->|Publishes| Guidance NHS_England -->|Notifies| Suppliers & Users NHS_England -->|Monitors| Progress NHS_England -->|Responds to| Feedback

3. Information Governance Assessment

As NWD is a reference standard and contains no patient data, a Privacy Impact Assessment is not required.

4. Patient Safety Assessment

The NHS England Clinical Safety team confirmed that NWD changes do not impact clinical safety as they relate only to staff data.

5. Points of Contact

For queries or change requests:

6. Useful Resources

Page last updated: 06 July 2026