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COVID-19 General Practice Extraction Service (GPES) Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (GDPPR)

To support the response to the coronavirus outbreak, NHS England has been asked to establish a central collection of GP patient data for COVID-19 purposes for the duration of the coronavirus emergency period.

Page contents

Data set versions as presented in the DARS online system

COVID-19 General Practice Extraction Service (GPES) Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (GDPPR)

Data set available in packages

Packages are pre-defined groups of fields and or tables that allow a customer to select from a list that best meets their needs. Packages do not allow a customer to customise their field or table selection.

  • No

Period of data coverage

27/05/2020 to 31/03/2022

Geographical scope of data

England 

Linkable to other data sets

  • Yes - Options for linking using either pseudonymised or identifiable data

Data collection process

Submitted by: General Practices

Collected by: NHS England

Frequency: Fortnightly

Clinical coding systems

Does the data set include any standardised systems of coding?

  • SNOMED-CT (a structured clinical vocabulary for use in electronic health records.)
Full list of coding systems considered

SNOMED-CT (a structured clinical vocabulary for use in electronic health records.)

ICD  (International Classification of Diseases classifies diseases and other health conditions.)

OPCS-4  (Office of Population Census and Surveys classification of interventions and surgical procedures)

dm+d  (Dictionary of descriptions and codes which represent medicines and devices in use across the NHS.)

NICIP (National Interim Clinical Imaging Procedure provides consistent recording of imaging procedures.)

UCUM  (Unified Code for Units of Measure (UCUM) is a code system intended to include all units of measurement.)

TFCs (Treatment Function Codes are used to record treatment activities undertaken)

Read Code v2  (A coded thesaurus of clinical terms.)

Read Code Clinical Terms v3 (A coded thesaurus of clinical terms.)

UICC (Union for International Cancer Control classification of cancer by anatomic disease extent.)

IMD  (Indices of Multiple Deprivation measures relative poverty.)

Derived fields

Standardised formulation may be applied across multiple data sets to generate commonly derived fields.  Any standard derivations applicable to this data set are listed below. Please note that this does not include bespoke derivations created specifically for the individual data set.

  • None 
Full list of standard derivations considered

GP_PRACTICE_CODE_TRACED (The GP practice that the patient is registered at, as found when traced against the Person Demographic Service (PDS).)

CCG_OF_RESIDENCE (Clinical Commissioning Group covering the area in which the patient’s postcode falls where data relates to pre 1 July 2022. Otherwise ICB sub location.)

ICS_OF_RESIDENCE (The integrated care system covering the area in which the patient’s postcode falls. This will be null for any data relating to earlier than 1 July 2022.)

LA_OF_RESIDENCE (The local authority covering the area in which the patient’s postcode falls.)

LSOA_OF_RESIDENCE (The Lower Super Output Area (lowest level without being disclosive) covering the area in which the patient’s postcode falls.)

CCG_OF_REGISTRATION (Clinical Commissioning Group which has a commissioning relationship with the GP practice which the patient is registered at where data relates to pre 1st July 2022. Otherwise ICB Sub Location.)

ICS_OF_REGISTRATION (The Integrated Care System covering the area in which the patient’s GP practice falls. This will be null until for any data relating to earlier than 1 July 2022.)

LA_OF_REGISTRATION (The local authority covering the area in which the patient’s GP practice falls.)

LSOA_OF_REGISTRATION (The Lower Super Output Area (lowest level without being disclosive) covering the area in which the patient’s GP practice falls.)

Third Party licensing

Does the data set require copyrighted clinical assessment tools or outcome measures that require a licence?

  • None 

Advice and support

Governance of this data set is provided by

Owning organisation: Department of  Health and Social Care

Data Controller: NHS England and Department of  Health and Social Care

Data Processor: NHS England

NHS England provides a variety of functions for the data sets we make available.  Therefore, our knowledge and understanding of the data will vary, impacting the level of advice and support we can provide.

In relation to this data set, we undertake end to end management and can therefore provide a full advice, guidance and support service.

Supporting documentation and guidance

COVID-19 GPES data for Pandemic Planning and Research (GDPPR) - To apply for access to this data, you should first fill in the Access Request Form for GPES Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (COVID-19) and send it to [email protected]. If the request is approved you will then complete the DARS online process in the normal way.

Any releases made are subject to increased oversight. Get more information on the GDPPR assessment process agreed upon with the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), with support from the National Data Guardian (NDG).

ARTICLE

GPES data for pandemic planning and research (COVID-19) (GDPPR)

NHS England’s monthly collection of GP data will provide data to support vital planning and research into COVID-19.
ARTICLE

Metadata dashboard

This dashboard provides metatdata on publicly available fields for available data sets.
ARTICLE

Office for National Statistics (ONS): Methods and systems used to collect ethnicity information in health administrative data sources, England: 2022 (January 2023)

This article uses findings from semi-structured qualitative interviews to explore potential sources of error and bias in the process of collecting ethnicity information across three NHS data sources: General Practice Extraction Service (GPES) Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (GDPPR), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT).
ARTICLE

Office for National Statistics (ONS): Understanding consistency of ethnicity data recorded in health-related administrative datasets in England: 2011 to 2021 (January 2023)

Comparisons showing variation in the recording of ethnicity data between the 2011 Census and electronic health records.

Last edited: 23 April 2025 5:19 pm