Using this guide

This COSD Pathology User Guide document provides additional information to support the COSD Specification and should also be used in conjunction with the COSD Pathology data set v5.0.

During the development of COSD Pathology v5, things may have changed in a number of ways.

moved data items:

• all data items that have moved within the data set since the last version will be indicated using bullet points following each data item description

new data items:

• all new data items or those with a new description or attribute in an existing data item, are indicated throughout the user guide in bullet points following each data item description
• in some data items this may also indicate a change in the data item number, format, or schema specification

deleted data items:

• these will be indicated using bullet points following each section table

Find the technical guidance and implementation documents on the COSD data set pages of this website.

Note:

• all changes are also clearly documented within the ‘Change Log’ of the data set document

The guide includes a generic chapter for ‘Core’ data set items followed by individual chapters for each of the site specific data sets applicable to each tumour group.

Mandatory:

• the ‘Core’ linkage items are ‘mandatory’ and must be submitted for all records
• it is vital that these are always available so that the correct information can be linked to the right patient and the correct tumour
• a record will not be able to be submitted if any mandatory data item is missing
• these records should not be added to the main file otherwise the whole file will fail the schema

Required:

• most other data-items are set as ‘required’, this means that if they are applicable to the reported tumour or patient pathway they must be completed and treated as a mandatory item
• not every data-item however will be applicable to every patient or tumour, by using ‘required’, this allows for a more accurate and inclusive collection of data
• therefore, all applicable data in each section marked as ‘required’ must be submitted for each record as soon as available

Optional:

• there are a few data-items that are optional, any Trust can submit these data, but there is no requirement to enforce this data collection at this point
• all optional data-items are under review and may change in future version controls of COSD

Pilot:

• there are no pilot data items in v5

Meaning of ‘Not Known’ value:

• ‘Not known’ includes both ‘not recorded’ and for example ‘test not done’, this is usually coded 9 or 99 (depending on the data item format)

All data items are listed using defined columns.

data item No:

• the reference number for the COSD data item
• all pathology data items have a prefixed ‘p’, all other data items remain interoperable with the main COSD data set

data Item section:

• the section in which the data item appears

data Item name:

• the name of the data item
• please refer to the data set and schema for the 'Data Dictionary Item Name', which will be written in purple italics if different

format:

• format required for submission of the data item

schema specification (M/R/O/X/P):

• the detailed schema for submission of the data is included in the Technical Guidance
• this column identifies whether items are required for the extract to pass validation rules when submitted in XML format
• note that all applicable data should be submitted as soon as possible
• Find a detailed explanation of each schema type in the schema specification section

Where there is a defined list of values for a data item, the code appears on the left of the table and the definition appears on the right, as shown in the example table 1 below.

Table 1

Demographic details are required for every record in order to ensure that the correct patient can be identified, and information can be correctly linked.

The demographics section should be completed by every Provider the first time a record is submitted.

There will only be one demographics section completed for each record. Demographic linkage items will be required each time the record is submitted. Almost all patients should have an NHS Number, and this should always be included where available. For those who do not have an NHS Number, the hospital number (‘Local Patient Identifier’) must be provided.

Both Topography and Morphology (SNOMED and/or ICD) must be completed for all cases.

Pathological diagnosis and grade (where applicable) are recorded on biopsies and may be amended after surgical resection (if appropriate), when pathological staging should also be available. Full text pathology reports should always be submitted.

To ensure that records submitted can be linked appropriately some key data fields must be completed for each record submitted. These are shown in the Core Linkage section. For pathology records this includes both Patient Identity and Pathology details.

There will be 1 linkage section completed each time the record is submitted.