This data defines the code and name of health and social care boundaries per postcode for England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands from NHS Postcode Directory.
Note:
- Where boundaries are not applicable, no default codes are populated in the table and the field will be NULL.
- Where a postcode is a green field site, there is an interim period of time between the postcode being newly created by the Royal Mail and it is being passed through to Allies (ODS address software provider) for processing. Boundaries will not be available for these sites/postcodes until this processing is fully complete (Allies have estimated 6 week release cycle).
- Where a code is referenced within the Geography table but there is not a corresponding name currently available, the Geography Name will be displayed as 'Name not currently available for code: xxxxxxx'.
ODS will continue to publish the NHS Postcode Directory but geography data has also been incorporated into the ODS FHIR R4 API for added value, allowing users to map an organisation to various health and social care geographic boundaries based on it's postcode.
Geography Attributes
Master Data Attribute (ODS Internal Reference) | Attribute Type | Length | Nullable | Description / Notes | Mapping to ODS Data Search & Export field (excluding predefined reports) | Mapping to ORD API (ORD schema containers, elements and attributes) | Mapping to ODS STU3 API | Mapping to ODS FHIR R4 API Please refer to ODS FHIR R4 Implementation Guide and the OAS Specification | |
| ODS Organisation CodeSystem | ODS Postcode CodeSystem | ||||||||
| Postcode | NOT NULL | Postcode | GeoLoc.Location.PostCode | address.postalCode | address.postalCode | concept.code, concept.display | |||
| PCO_code | NULL | Primary Care Organisation | Geographic Primary Care Organisation | Not available | Not available | property.PCO | property.PCO | ||
| GOR_Code | NULL | Government Office Region | Geographic Government Office Region | Not available | Not available | property.GOR | property.GOR | ||
| LA_Code | NULL | Local Authority | Geographic Local Authority | Not available | Not available | property.LA | property.LA | ||
| ICB_Code | NULL | Integrated Care Board | High Level Health Geography | Not available | Not available | property.ICB | property.ICB | ||
| NHSER_Code | NULL | NHS England Region | National Grouping | Not available | Not available | property.NHSER | property.NHSER | ||
| Electoral_Ward_Code | NULL | Electoral Ward | Not available | Not available | Not available | property.EW | property.EW | ||
| Constituency_code | NULL | Parliamentary Constituency | Not available | Not available | Not available | property.PC | property.PC | ||
| LSOA11_code | NULL | Lower Super Output Area | Not available | Not available | Not available | property.LSOA11 | property.LSOA11 | ||
| CancerAlliance_Code | NULL | Cancer Alliance | Not available | Not available | Not available | property.CA | property.CA | ||
| SMHPC_AED_Code | NULL | Strategic Mental Health Provider Collaborative - Adult Eating Disorder | Only available via a Geographic Search on postcode (will return the relevant SMHPC for that postcode area) | Not available | Not available | property.SMHPC AED | property.SMHPC AED | ||
| SMHPC_AS_Code | NULL | Strategic Mental Health Provider Collaborative - Adult Secure | Only available via a Geographic Search on postcode (will return the relevant SMHPC for that postcode area) | Not available | Not available | property.SMHPC AS | property.SMHPC AS | ||
| SMHPC_CT4_Code | NULL | Strategic Mental Health Provider Collaborative - CYPMH Tier 4 | Only available via a Geographic Search on postcode (will return the relevant SMHPC for that postcode area) | Not available | Not available | property.SMHPC CT4 | property.SMHPC CT4 | ||
Note for Organisation Data Terminology FHIR API users
The geography-name is a CodeSystem held on the NHS England Terminology Server (ODS Instance) which holds the names for the Office of National Statistics (ONS) identifiers used within the postcode CodeSystem. It is subject to change regularly (with ONS codes being removed where no longer valid), therefore we suggest that you retrieve the latest version via the API.
There is an example in the API Sandbox - 'Retrieve an ONS geographical name'.
The FHIR API geography-name CodeSystem is not intended to provide a full list of ONS codes and boundary/type names, it's purpose is to provide a lookup function for individual codes.
| GeographyTypeName |
|---|
| CANCER ALLIANCE |
| ELECTORAL WARD |
| GOVERNMENT OFFICE REGION |
| INTEGRATED CARE BOARD |
| LOCAL AUTHORITY |
| LOWER SUPER OUTPUT AREA 2011 |
| NHS ENGLAND REGION |
| PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY |
| PRIMARY CARE ORGANISATION |
| SMHPC EATING DISORDER SERVICE |
| SMHPC ADULT LOW AND MEDIUM SECURE SERVICES |
| SMHPC CHILD AND YOUNG PERSONS MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES |