[October 2023] | Issue [23]

This is an important notice for all Trust Cancer, IT teams and System Suppliers...

I am delighted to inform you that NHS England, on the delegated authority of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, have approved the changes to COSD v10 and COSD Pathology v5.0. These were published on the 08 September and will go live for data collection by Trusts on the 01 April 2024.

All documentation can be found on the following websites:

• NHS England’s ISN website
• http://digital.nhs.uk/isce/publication/dapb1521
• ISN Notice
• Specification
• Implementation Guide
• Change Request
• NDRS new website
• COSD v10.0 downloads - NDRS (digital.nhs.uk)
• COSD v10 data set
• COSD v10 user guide
• COSD v10 technical guide
• COSD Pathology v5 data set
• COSD pathology v5 user guide
• COSD Pathology v5 technical guide
• Technology reference update distribution
• https://isd.digital.nhs.uk/trud/user/guest/group/0/home
• COSD_v10-0-1 Schema pack
• COSD_Pathology_v5-0-1 Schema pack

As with previous version, we are allowing a three-month window for roll-out of new versions, as we appreciate that suppliers with multiple clients cannot do this all-in-one day. Therefore, full compliance will be the 30 June 2024, with Trusts collecting all COSD v10 and/or COSD Pathology v5 by no later than 01 July 2024.

We strongly urge you to work with your system supplier or IT team at the earliest available time to programme in the change/upgrade process, so that your Trust does not become ‘Non-Compliant’ with the mandated standard.

An email will also be sent to each Trust towards the end of the year, for you to provide NDRS with your business case and timeline for upgrade. This is important, as our dedicated team of liaison managers want to support you as much as possible, both with questions but also with any upload issues you may have when you go live.

Upload, Validation and Reporting API for COSD Data Submissions:

The Data Liaison Team will continue to work with each Trust (as required), to support COSD data submissions via the API portal. We will provide API portal accounts, guidance and test runs, so that Trusts are able to make a successful upload of their data submissions.

The portal not only improves the security of data transfer and the accuracy of data submitted but also provides improved validation and reporting for Trust use, including instant feedback metrics on the uploaded data and patient level reports indicating incomplete stage.



Enhanced schema rules:

NDRS will also be strictly applying the schema from next year, thus for example: where there is a pattern, this must be applied correctly, for example (but not limited to):

• all date formats
• topography codes and ICD codes
• only enumerations listed with defined codes will be acceptable
• min / max lengths in fields

These errors will result in the whole file being rejected not only those records which do not meet the schema spec. An error report will be made available for Trusts to correct their errors, but it would be better if these were highlighted by the system supplier export and correctly mapped to the schema to prevent incorrect data being attempted to be uploaded. It would be expected that all Trusts would resubmit with a fully compliant file within 5 working days.

This is a major change to the way we have been accepting data to-date, but the schema is there to provide improved accuracy and data quality, and our developers and registration teams are spending a huge amount of time dealing with incorrect data submissions.

Your help and support with this is very much appreciated.

COSD and Cancer Roadshows 2024:

Approval have been given to run a series of roadshows around England between January and February 2024. One of the venues is still to be confirmed, however the following is the proposed dates:

• 10-Jan London
• 17-Jan Birmingham
• 24-Jan London
• 31-Jan Newmarket
• 07-Feb Manchester
• 14-Feb Taunton (tbc)
• 21-Feb Sheffield
• 28-Feb Leeds

Each Trust will be offered 4 delegate places (depending on size). Although it will be down to the Trusts to nominate internally those people they feel should attend, we are asking that one of those delegates be a nurse specialist.

We also going to offer two places to each Cancer Alliance as well.

A list of main contacts has been provided by the regional NDRS liaison managers and these people will be contacted via our booking/registration system 'Constant Contact'. You will also receive an email from the Head of Cancer Datasets prior to this as a reminder.

Lunch will be provided, but it is important that if you have any dietary requirements or have any allergies that you inform us at registration. Alterations on the day can sometimes be difficult to accommodate. All venues are suitable for people with disabilities.

There will be key speakers from COSD, NDRS, Living with and Beyond Cancer, SNOMED CT and we hope the new National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN).

Once the full list of speakers is confirmed, the agenda will be available in the delegate pack. Please remember to download and/or print out your delegate packs ahead of your roadshow, as there will be limited/no access to delegate packs on the day at the event.

An electronic feedback form will also be available, and everyone is encouraged to fill this in post the meeting.

CancerStats2 platform updates:

The NDRS Business Intelligence team will be launching a number of key updates on the CancerStats2 platform week commencing 16 October 2023. This includes:

• a revised CancerStats2 platform user guide
• a new suite of COSD data improvement tools to replace the existing Level 2 completeness reports; and
• a new COSD Acute Oncology data dashboard

A separate communication will be sent out to all registered CancerStats2 users shortly. If you would like to register for access, please complete the online registration form.

If you have any queries, you can contact the team directly at [email protected]

Narrated training modules now available for COSD data:

A series of bite-sized narrated training modules are available on the new NDRS website, aimed at MDT co-ordinators and other cancer administration staff. Generic modules - which are perfect for staff who are new to cancer - cover the fundamentals of cancer data including:

• Cancer System Background Information
• What is Cancer?
• Diagnosing Cancer.

The next stage modules include COSD-specific information covering;

• Recording a Diagnosis
• Key Performance Indicators (which covers TNM Stage, Performance Status and CNS indication code)
• plus, one on FIGO Staging for Gynaecology.

Additionally, site-specific modules have been generated for a number of different cancers to give administrators an insight into the specialised information and language as used by the clinical teams. Where possible, guidance has been included on how to record this information.