Patient Level Information and Costing Systems (PLICS) Costing and Disparities Collection Data Provision Notice

The Costing Transformation Programme (CTP) was set up to implement PLICS across acute, mental health, ambulance and community providers.

PLICS data enables NHS England to perform its pricing and licensing functions under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (the 2012 act) more effectively.  The data is used to:

Analytics

• develop analytical tools, metrics and reports to help providers improve their data quality, identify operational and clinical efficiencies, and review and challenge their patient-level cost data at provider, population, system and national level
• supporting efficiency and quality of care improvement programmes

Investment, pricing and pathway design

• inform and model new methods of pricing NHS services
• inform new approaches

Effectiveness, efficiency, and quality

• support efficiency and quality of care improvement programmes
• inform the relationship between provider and patient characteristics and cost
• inform the relationship between provider characteristics, patient characteristics and cost

This notice relates to the collection of local costing data from designated providers of acute care for the purpose of enabling analysis to develop further understanding of NHS cost drivers and disparities across England (PLICS Costing and Disparities Collection). 

The collection and analysis will be for a limited period, with collection during August 2025 and analysis until the 31 December 2025. The project will be undertaken to assess and identify more detailed efficiencies to support the productivity agenda. 

Designated providers of acute activity are required to submit patient level costing data in accordance with Annex A, Section 1 of this Data Provision Notice in Summer 2025.

Under section 259(1)(a) of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, this Notice is served in accordance with the procedure published as part of the NHS England duty under section 259(8) on the following persons:

All trusts identified in Annex B Section 2 of Version 6.0 of the published Requirements Specification for Patient Level Information and Costing Systems (PLICS) Mandatory Collections continued implementation. Read the published document.  

The organisation specified in the above Scope are requested to comply with the form, manner and period requirements below.

The collection and processing of Patient Level Information and Costing Systems (PLICS) data by NHS England falls within the Patient Level Information and Costing Systems (PLICS) Mandatory Collections continued implementation Mandatory Request. NHS England has inherited the statutory duties of Monitor (as per the HSCA 2022 c31 Schedule 5), previously detailed under section 62 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 in that in exercising its functions there is a duty to “protect and promote the interests of people who use health care services by promoting provision of health care services which

(a) is economic, efficient and effective, and

(b) maintains or improves the quality of the services.

This collection will be undertaken in August 2025 from those Trusts named in Annex B, Section 2 of the Requirements Specification Version 6.0 for Patient Level Information and Costing Systems (PLICS) Mandatory Collections continued implementation. 

Data to be collected is for patients receiving care from providers of acute care trusts identified in Annex B Section 2, under the 2023/24 Month 12 BAU PLICS data reporting period.