ods-organization-code

The ods-organization-code terminology CodeSystem is documented within the Organisation Data Service Implementation Guidance available via Simplifier. The properties available within this CodeSystem are documented here for ease of reference.

Overview

The ods-organization-code CodeSystem returns all primary roles active and inactive (if closed after archive cut-off date):

For active primary roles/organisations, CodeSystem returns only the active non primary role(s).
For inactive primary roles/organisations, CodeSystem returns the most recent non primary role(s).

CodeSystem usage

You can retrieve reference CodeSystems in full, as they are small enough to be returned in a single query.

Larger CodeSystems which generally contain instance data cannot be retrieved in full due to their size.

You can also search or validate individual concepts; codes stored within the CodeSystem.

Refer to our OAS specification for more information.

Codesystem properties

Property code	Property description
Name	The name of the entity/organisation
primaryRole	The Primary Role describes the organisation type - the fundamental nature of the entity/record and its overarching remit
Role	Non-Primary Roles (zero or many) may be assigned to any given record to provide further information about that Organisation’s functions or remit
legEndDate	Legal dates are authoritative and often defined by legislation. Legal End Dates must be equal to or earlier than Operational End Dates
legStartDate	Legal dates are authoritative and often defined by legislation. Legal Start Dates must be equal to or later than Operational Start Dates
opEndDate	Operational dates exist in parallel and reflect the operational need of systems and services. Operational End Dates must be equal to or later than Legal End Dates
opStartDate	Operational dates exist in parallel and reflect the operational need of systems and services. Operational Start Dates must be equal to or earlier than Legal Start Dates
Status	Status is derived from the operational start/end dates. A code must be legally and operationally closed to be INACTIVE. If an end date is in the future, the code will remain ACTIVE until that end date has passed
lastChangeDate	The date on which the record was last changed (created or amended). This date can be used by consumers to identify amended records since a point in time
address1	Postal address line 1
address2	Postal address line 2
address3	Postal address line 3
Town	Town
Postcode	Postcode
Country	Country
Uprn	Unique Property Reference Number. A unique identifier for spatial addresses in Great Britain
Telephone	Telephone number for an organisation, if available. Use with caution as ODS cannot guarantee this data item is regular reviewed/updated
http	Website address for an organisation, if available. Use with caution as ODS cannot guarantee this data item is regular reviewed/updated
Predecessor	An entity which has closed and been succeeded by another entity
Successor	The entity that has succeeded or persisted following the closure of a predecessor
forwardSuccession	A given subject record will only hold reference to an immediate target successor(s). ‘hasForwardSuccession’ indicates whether there is any further forward succession held on the target (i.e. the organisation which succeded this organisation has been succeded itself)
orgRecordClass	High level type/class of record published by ODS (i.e. organisation or site)
refOnly	The existence of relationships in the data allows an active record to reference a record that has been archived. To preserve a degree of referential integrity, a ‘skeleton’ version of archived records (i.e. with relationships and other content omitted) are published in the data. These are known as RefOnly records
assigningAuth	The organisation responsible for maintaining a range of identifiers
AAID8	Additional record Status that applies to Prescribing Cost Centres. Organisation Status can be Active, but the Additional Attributes can advise consumers that the NHS Business Services Authority have marked a record as 'Dormant'
AAID9	Additional record Status that applies to Prescribing Cost Centres. Organisation Status can be Active, but the Additional Attributes can advise consumers that the NHS Business Services Authority have marked a record as 'Proposed'
CA	The Cancer Alliance geographic boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
EW	The Electoral Ward geographic boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
GOR	The Government Office Region geographic boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
ICB	The Integrated Care Board geographic boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
LA	The Local Authority geographic boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
LSOA11	The Lower Super Output Area geographic boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
NHSER	The NHS England Region geographic boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
PC	The Parliamentary Constituency geographic boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
PCO	The Primary Care Organisation geographic boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
RE2	An instance of an organisation having an 'IS A SUB DIVISION OF' relationship to another entity. Department/Programme to Organisation/Site. The Organisation of which the subject entity forms a sub-division or component (such as a department or programme of work)
RE3	An instance of an organisation having an 'IS DIRECTED BY' relationship to another entity. The primary Organisation by which the subject entity is influenced or directed, through policy, legal authority or contractual agreements
RE4	An instance of an organisation having an 'IS COMMISSIONED BY' relationship to another entity. An Organisation commissioning health care or related services from the subject entity (provider)
RE5	An instance of an organisation having an 'IN THE GEOGRAPHY OF' relationship to another entity. An administrative geography, organisation or subdivision of an organisation, within the boundary of which the subject entity is physically located. Supplied for aggregation purposes only
RE6	An instance of an organisation/site having an 'IS OPERATED BY' relationship to another entity. Site to Organisation. The Organisation that is responsible for operating and managing services within the subject entity. Does not necessarily denote ownership
RE8	An instance of an organisation having an 'IS PARTNER TO' relationship to another entity. Partner to Partnership/Collaboration/Network. The Partnership/Collaboration/Network which the subject entity is part of
RE9	An instance of an organisation having an 'IS NOMINATED PAYEE' relationship to another entity. Payee to Network. The Primary Care Network which the subject entity is nominated payee for
RE10	An instance of an organisation having an 'IS COVID NOMINATED PAYEE' relationship to another entity. COVID Vaccination Payee to Network. The Primary Care Network which the subject entity is COVID vaccination nominated payee for
RE11	An instance of an organisation having an 'IS CONSTITUENT OF' relationship to another entity. Prescribing Cost Centre to Clinical Commissioning Group (where the CCG code has a non primary role of RO327 Sub ICB Reporting Entity). The Sub ICB Reporting Entity to which the subject entity is a constituent of. Applied to London area ICBs only
SMHPC AED	The Strategic Mental Health Provider Collaborative - Adult Eating Disorder boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
SMHPC AS	The Strategic Mental Health Provider Collaborative - Adult Secure boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode
SMHPC CT4	The Strategic Mental Health Provider Collaborative - CYPMH Tier 4 boundary that an entity falls within, based on its postcode

Note that for the relationship instances (that is, RE2, RE4 etc), the CodeSystem will return only the active relationships for an active organisation/site. For an inactive organisation/site, the CodeSystem will return the latest relationship(s) at time of closure.

Last edited: 31 October 2025 7:18 am