Part of The HES processing cycle and data quality checks

Data submission and validation into SUS

There are various stages the data submissions go through before landing in SUS.

Commissioning Data Sets

The Commissioning Data Set (CDS) is the Information Standards and Data Collections / Extractions (ISCE) approved structure used for the submission of commissioning data into SUS and is designed to be capable of individually conveying many different CDS structures including amongst others: Emergency Care (ECDS) Attendances; Outpatient (OP) Attendances; Admitted Patient Care (APC) and Elective Admission List data.

The primary purpose of national data sets is to enable conformant health information to be generated across the country, independent of the organisation or system that maintains it. In achieving this, NHS Digital enables healthcare professionals to measure and compare the delivery and quality of care provided and to support them in sharing information with other health professionals and organisations.

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Governance of information standards

Understanding the national structure that oversees information standards and data collections.

XML validation

CDS data is submitted into SUS in an XML schema form and as part of the submission process a number of XML validation checks are applied. If a submission fails one or more of these checks then the whole set of data is rejected. Data only enters SUS if all XML validation rules are met.

Examples of the types of checks applied at this submission stage are:

data items to not contain values that exceed the prescribed limit of characters
for common and more mature data items, ensure the values are those that are prescribed in the NHS Model and Data Dictionary
ensure date fields only include date values
check that mandatory data items are populated

NHS Model and Data Dictionary

The NHS Model and Data Dictionary is there to help maintain consistency and quality of data.

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SUS fields and XML validation rules available from the Data Dictionary

The NHS Data Model and Dictionary gives a reference point for assured information standards, to support health care activities in the NHS in England. The NHS Data Model and Dictionary has been developed for everyone who is actively involved in the collection of data and the management in the NHS.

SUS Business Rules and Grouper Validation

After the submitted data has passed the XML validation checks, some data elements are subject to additional business rules. There are 14 business rules applied. Details of each business rule can be found on the NHS Model and Data Dictionary.

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NHS Data Model and Dictionary: Commissioning Data Set business rules

Grouper validation

A final process called the Grouper Validation is then applied. This runs a complex algorithm to assign Health Resource Groups (HRGs) to patient records for payment.

SUS PbR reference manual

pdf 1 MB

Overview of the submission process

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SUS+ essentials Secondary Uses Service user guide

This guidance provides a reference point for new and existing Secondary Uses Service (SUS) users. It introduces general concepts, provides an overview of the submission process and provides details on extracting data from SUS.

Last edited: 10 April 2025 4:53 pm

Data submission and validation into SUS

Commissioning Data Sets

XML validation

NHS Model and Data Dictionary

SUS Business Rules and Grouper Validation

Grouper validation

Overview of the submission process

Chapters