Data Description
The data contains name and address information and identifying codes for General Practitioners working in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The 'Country' attribute in the data model can be used to filter practitioners by specific countries if required.
For England and Wales, the identifying codes are known as General National Codes, or GNC. The NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) use a number called the Doctor’s Index Number or DIN (allocated by the Health and Social Care Information Centre when a doctor first applies to practice in the UK), to derive a GP's first GNC code; this is prefixed with a ‘G’ and suffixed with a check digit. Thereafter however, if a GP begins to work at further practices (i.e. is working within more than one simultaneously), the NHS Prescription Service allocate further codes not based on the DIN. A GP can therefore have multiple GNC codes, one for each practice he works at simultaneously. If a GP completely leaves a practice before joining a new one, and there is no overlap, then the current code will be retained and just the links within the data updated.
The General Practitioner unique identifiers for Northern Ireland GPs are provided to ODS by Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (HSCNI).
How Data is Maintained
(For England and Wales): The NHS BSA establish main contacts, whose role is to inform them of updates and additions to GPs within their area, in much the same way that ODS establish main contacts within the organisations that they code. This updating is carried out to the NHS BSA‘s systems on an ongoing basis, with the NHS BSA supplying updated files to ODS for publication once a month.
(For Northern Ireland): HSCNI provide a snapshot of the current position re GPs, therefore, GP 'Status' is always 'Active' and data for NI does not include join/left dates for GP to GP Practice memberships.
Data Quality Assessment
For further information re the: ODS Data Quality Assessment Framework
| Data Quality Dimension | |||||||||||
| Last updated: |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ODS mastered or 3rd party data | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| OVERALL | Frequency of Update | Data Collection Method | Fit for Purpose | Coverage / Completeness | Reliability / Accuracy | Data Agreement | 3rd Party Escalation Routes | System Application / Downstream System Feedback | Future Refinement / Improvement Plan | ||
| General Practitioners | GREEN | Amber | Red | Amber | Green | Amber | 3rd party | Green | Green | Green | Green |
| Weekly | Email (csv files) | Dataset is based on General National Codes for GPs for identifying prescribing activity at a specific location. The data includes Pooled List and Spurious codes. The data is therefore not pure practitioner data, it identifies prescribing activity and roles. | All NHS prescriber GPs | Sporadic issues with raw data that have to be addressed by transposition of GNC numbers. Minor issues with GP Practitioner data aligning with GP Practice data that ODS have to address. | SLA in place and regularly reviewed | Named contacts, regular stakeholder meeting/forum | Very limited feedback - assume no significant impacts on current data consumers | No current plans | |||
Key Information - Roles, Code Formats and Data Source
| Key Information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Geographic coverage |
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| Practitioner ID | General National Code (GNC) - Prescribing Code (England and Wales) Northern Ireland GP Code - HSCNI Unique Identifier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Practitioner Type Code | PGP | Practitioner Type Name | General Practitioner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PNGP | Northern Ireland General Practitioner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Practitioner Role ID | PGP1 | Practitioner role Name | Principle GP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PGP2 | Other GP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PNGP1 | Other NI GP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Raw Data Source | NHS Business Services Authority - Prescription Service (England and Wales) Health & Social Care Northern Ireland | Update Frequency | Monthly Quarterly (NI only) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Code Format | England and Wales:
Northern Ireland:
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Permitted Relationships - Practitioner to Organisation
Practitioner Membership | Membership Type Code | Relationship Type Name | Parent Organisation Type |
| ME1 | General Medical Practice Membership | RO177 / RO76 (England & Wales GP Practice) or RO315 (Northern Ireland GP Practice) |
Legacy .csv File Mapping
Baseline differences between ODS Data Search & Export and the legacy csv files - only practitioners who have a membership to a practice that is in scope for publication (i.e. operationally open, or closed after 31 Match 2017) will be available via the ODS DSE tool.
egpcur.csv
PractitionerTypeCode = PGP
Col | Data Item | Report Alias (Legacy csv) | Notes |
1 | [PractitionerAdditionalAttribute] | Organisation Code | PractitionerAttributeTypeCode = 1 for “General National Code” |
2 | [PractitionerName] | Name | |
3 | [NHSER_code] | National Grouping | Change from Legacy csv: Geographic extension of the postcode |
4 | [ICB_code] | High Level Health Geography | Change from Legacy csv: Geographic extension of the postcode |
5 | [Address1] | Address Line 1 | The address details that belong to the practice that is detailed in COLUMN 15. Change from Legacy csv: Please note that there are some address data differences between the legacy egpcur.csv file and the data within contemporary tools. We have now applied an extra level of address validation to improve data quality. |
6 | [Address2] | Address Line 2 | As above |
7 | [Address3] | Address Line 3 | As above |
8 | [Town] | Address Line 4 | As above |
9 | [County] | Address Line 5 | Change from legacy csv: As this is a legacy field, not populated for new addresses since 2018, this field within the ODS Data Search & Export tool (including pre defined reports) will not be populated. Note that the value (where populated) is available via the FHIR Organization Resource in the address.district property. |
10 | [Postcode] | Postcode | As above |
11 | [LegalStartDate] | Open Date | where [PractitionerAttributeTypeID] = 1 |
12 | [LegalEndDate] | Close Date | where [PractitionerAttributeTypeID] = 1 |
13 | [StatusName] | Status | where [PractitionerAttributeTypeID] = 1 Change from Legacy csv: Now Status Name in full rather than a status indicator (active, inactive, retired, proposed) |
14 | [PractitionerRoleName] | Organisation Sub-Type Code | Where [StatusName] = ‘ACTIVE’. Defaulted to ‘OTHER GP (NOT PRINICIPAL)’ if there are no active roles. |
15 | [ParentOrganisationCode] | Parent Organisation Code | [PractitionerMembershipTypeCode] = ME1 where the [JoinParentOrganisationDate] is the latest date |
16 | [LegalStartDate] | Join Parent Date | ME1 [JoinParentOrganisationDate] to support COLUMN 15 |
17 | [LegalEndDate] | Left Parent Date | ME1 [LeftParentOrganisationDate] to support COLUMN 15 |
18 | [TelephoneNumber] | Contact Telephone Number | From the GP Practice details. |
19 | NULL | Column 19 | |
20 | NULL | Column 20 | |
21 | NULL | Column 21 | |
22 | ‘1’ | Amended Record Indicator | Set to 1 for Report |
23 | NULL | Column 23 | |
24 | [PCO_code] | Current Care Organisation | ODS code of the current care organisation (i.e. Sub ICB Location, or Welsh Local Health Board. Change from Legacy csv: Derived as a geographic extension of the postcode of the practice. |
25 | NULL | Column 25 | |
26 | NULL | Column 26 | |
27 | NULL | Column 27 |
epracmem.csv
All records taken from the PractitionerMembership data where [PractitionerMembershiptypecode] = ME1, for English or Welsh GPs only (i.e. they have a General National Code).
Col | Data Item | Report Alias (legacy csv) | Notes |
1 | [PractitionerID] | Practitioner Code | |
2 | [parentorganisationcode] | Parent Organisation Code | |
3 | ‘P’ | Parent Organisation Type | Set to 'P' - default. Please note: this field may be removed in future as it holds no value. |
4 | [joinparentorganisationdate] | Join Parent Date | |
5 | [leftparentorganisationdate] | Left Parent Date | |
6 | ‘1’ | Amended Record Indicator | Set to 1 for Report |
ngpcur.csv
NGPCUR is a distinct list of NORTHERN IRELAND GENERAL PRACTITIONER CODE, with this also being the PractitionerID that is used as a key for all other practitioner data.
This report is a snapshot of the current active NI GP’s, hence the status for most attributes will be Active.
Col | Data Item | Report Alias (legacy csv) | Notes |
1 | [OrganisationCode] | Organisation Code | PractitionerAttributeTypeCode = 8 for “Northern Ireland General Practitioner Code” |
2 | [OrgName] | Name | |
3 | NULL | Column 3 | |
4 | [TargetOrgCode] | High level Health Geography | Change from legacy csv: Geographic extension of the postcode using the geographies table. |
5 | [Address1] | Address Line 1 | The address details that belong to the practice that is detailed in COLUMN 15 |
6 | [Address2] | Address Line 2 | As above |
7 | [Address3] | Address Line 3 | As above |
8 | [Town] | Address Line 4 | As above |
9 | [County] | Address Line 5 | Change from legacy csv: As this is a legacy field, not populated for new addresses since 2018, this field within the ODS Data Search & Export tool (including pre defined reports) will not be populated. Note that the value (where populated) is available via the FHIR Organization Resource in the address.district property. |
10 | [Postcode] | Postcode | |
11 | [LegalStartDate] | Open Date | |
12 | NULL | Column 12 | |
13 | [StatusName] | Status | Change from legacy csv: Previously populated with a single character 'A'. Now populated with the StatusName (Active). |
14 | [PractitionerRoleName] | Organisation Sub-Type Code | Taken from the Practitioner Roles where [StatusName] = ‘ACTIVE’. Default to ‘OTHER GP (NOT PRINCIPAL)’ if there are no active roles |
15 | [ParentOrganisationCode] | Parent Organisation Code | [PractitionerMembershipTypeCode] = ME1 where the [JoinParentOrganisationDate] is the latest date |
16 | NULL | Column 16 | |
17 | NULL | Column 17 | |
18 | [TelephoneNumber] | Contact Telephone Number | |
19 | NULL | Column 19 | |
20 | NULL | Column 20 | |
21 | NULL | Column 21 | |
22 | ‘1’ | Amended Record Indicator | Set to 1 for Report |
23 | NULL | Column 23 | |
24 | NULL | Column 24 | |
25 | NULL | Column 25 | |
26 | NULL | Column 26 | |
27 | NULL | Column 27 |
egmcmem.csv
All records should contain:
PractitionerAttributeTypeCode = 1 for “General National Code” where status = ‘ACTIVE’
And PractitionerAttributeTypeCode = 6 for ‘General Medical Council Code’ where status = ‘ACTIVE’
Col | Data Item | Report Alias (legacy csv) | Notes |
1 | [PractitionerAdditionalAttribute] | GMC Code |
|
2 | [PractitionerName] | Practitioner Name | Change from legacy csv: Previously ‘First Name’. Surnames and initials have been concatenated for consistency across all practitioner types |
3 | NULL | Surname | Change from legacy csv: Previously ‘Surname’. Surnames and initials have been concatenated for consistency across all practitioner types |
4 | [PractitionerAdditionalAttribute] | GNC |
|
5 | NULL | Report Created Date | Change from legacy csv: no longer provided as pre defined report can be run on demand by user |
Attachments:
image2023-2-14_13-35-10.png (image/png)
General Practitioner Data Process (application/vnd.jgraph.mxfile)
General Practitioner Data Process .png (image/png)
General Practitioner Data Process (application/vnd.jgraph.mxfile)
General Practitioner Data Process .png (image/png)
General Practitioner Data Process (application/vnd.jgraph.mxfile)
General Practitioner Data Process .png (image/png)
General Practitioner Data Process (application/vnd.jgraph.mxfile)
General Practitioner Data Process .png (image/png)
