Introduction

NHS England’s Participant Validation Engine (PaVE) enables users to upload a submission file (or cohort) to allow for validation, tracing and retention of participants’ details for future linkage to NHS England datasets listed within a particular Data Sharing Agreement (DSA).

During the application process, users will have recorded the cohort data items to be supplied to NHS England and the associated legal basis, and these will be included in the DSA.  

The method of submitting a cohort data file is via an upload to NHS England’s Secure Electronic File Transfer (SEFT).

Details of the process is show in this diagram. 

Once the cohort file has been uploaded, the participants are initially validated to ensure that the data items provided are in the correct format and are listed within the relevant section of the approved DSA.

You will receive an email notification when their cohort file passes file validation. Upon successful validation, the participants’ details will be matched to the Master Person Service (MPS) held by NHS England. Once matched, the participants’ details will be stored in a cohort table for linkage to NHS England datasets.

If the submission fails file validation, you will receive a data validation errors document which provides details of why each row caused the file to fail validation. These errors will need to be rectified and resubmitted to continue processing.

The best quality tracing is provided when NHS number and date of birth are available (as shown in option 1 in the table above).

Other combinations of identifiers (options 2-5) will also generate a trace but the quality will depend on the data. Too little identifier information could result in your file submission being accepted, but your cohort may not be traced.

Related sections to Guidance for submitting a cohort submission file

1. Introduction
2. Preparing your submission
3. Pre-submission checklist
4. Submitting your cohort
5. Managing your cohort 
6. Outputs and results