DAPB0084: OPCS Classification of Interventions and Procedures

OPCS-4 is a statistical classification for clinical coding of hospital interventions and procedures undertaken by the NHS

OPCS-4 Classification of Interventions and Procedures is a mandatory information standard used for the clinical coding of hospital interventions and procedures undertaken by the NHS. It supports analysis of healthcare data across the NHS.

Publication: Information Standards Notice

What's changed	Previous releases were produced in two paper volumes, OPCS-4.11 will migrate to an online web browser only, called ‘NHS Classifications Browser’. OPCS-4.11 includes new codes, retirements and changes to code descriptions, notes, and changes to the Alphabetical Index. In total there are 5114 amendments proposed to OPCS-4.11
Scope	All Health Care Providers that are required to submit data on interventions and procedures for: Admitted Patient Care Commissioning Data Sets (CDS) Other data collections as defined in the NHS Data Model and Dictionary
Type	Collection
Schedule of collection or submission (if applicable)	Monthly
Responsible authority	Data Assurance Board
Date of approval	29 October 2025
Publication date	6 November 2025
Release name	36/2025
Release number	4.11
Status/stage	Implementation
Implementation date	1 April 2026
Full conformance date	1 April 2026
End date of assurance	6 July 2027
Legislation	This information standard is published under Section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Those subject to this information standard should have regard within the required timeframes.
Key documents	Change spec Requirements specification Implementation guide Summary of core changes
Further information	Clinical Classifications - NHS England Digital Delen: Home - NHS England NHS Data Model and Dictionary Change request
Contact details	Customer portal: Customer Service Portal - Customer Support Email support: [email protected] Telephone: 0300 303 5035

Earlier releases

OPCS-4.10

Notes	¹As of 1 February 2023, NHS Digital has merged with NHS England to bring together one single organisation, referred to as NHS England. As a result, the URL for Delen - the information sharing and collaboration platform for users of Terminology and Classifications products - will change from www.hscic.kahootz.com to www.nhsengland.kahootz.com. This site is referenced throughout the documents below. The documents are currently being reviewed to correct any broken links and will be republished in due course. Pages on these sites may still be accessed by replacing ‘hscic’ with ‘nhsengland’ in relevant links.
Release date	1 November 2022
Release name	Amd/36/2022
Release number	4.10
Stage	Superseded by Amd 36/2025
Key documents	Requirements Specification (Amd 36/2022)¹ Change Specification (Amd 36/2022)¹ Implementation Guidance (Amd 36/2022)¹ Information Standards Notice (Amd 36/2022)
Supporting documents	Final Summary of Changes (Amd 36/2022) NHS Data Model and Dictionary Change Request 1867 (Amd 36/2022)
Further information	NHS Digital: Terminology and Classifications Delivery Service

OPCS-4.9

Notes	Update 5 December 2019: The latest release (DCB0084 Amd 18/2019) was published on 8 October 2019. Since then, the need for a small change to a supporting document has been identified and a Corrigendum has been issued. Note that there is no impact on either the published Requirements Specification or the Implementation Guidance; however an updated Summary of Changes has been published. If you have any questions about this Corrigendum, or other OPCS issues, you can contact the developers by emailing: [email protected].
Release date	08/10/2019
Release number	Amd 18/2019
Release title	Version 4.9
Stage	Superseded by 36/2022
Key documents	Requirements Specification (Amd 18/2019) [Archive Content] Change Specification (Amd 18/2019) Implementation Guidance (Amd 18/2019) Information Standards Notice (Amd 18/2019) Corrigendum (Amd 18/2019) (December 2019)
Supporting documents	Final Summary of Changes (Amd 18/2019) (December 2019) NHS Data Model and Dictionary Change Request 1723 (Amd 18/2019)
Further information	NHS Digital: Terminology and Classifications Delivery Service

OPCS-4.8

Release date	19/10/2016
Release number	Amd 105/2015
Release title	Version 4.8
Stage	Superseded by Amd 18/2019
Key documents	Requirements Specification (Amd 105/2015) Change Paper (Amd 105/2015) Implementation Guidance (Amd 105/2015) Information Standards Notice (Amd 105/2015)
Supporting documents	Final Summary of Changes (Amd 105/2015) NHS Data Model and Dictionary Change Request 1577 (Amd 105/2015) Advance Notification (issued April 2016) (Amd 105/2015)

Documentation for earlier, superseded versions of OPCS can be found on the on the archived Information Standards Board website.

Last edited: 6 November 2025 4:24 pm