Jump to main content
NHS Data Model and Dictionary

June 2026 release

Welcome to the NHS Data Model and Dictionary for England.

Release history

The NHS Data Model and Dictionary provides a reference point for approved Information Standards Notices to support health care activities within the NHS in England. It has been developed for everyone who is actively involved in the collection of data and the management of information in the NHS.

The NHS Data Model and Dictionary is maintained and published by the NHS Data Model and Dictionary Service.

The NHS Data Model and Dictionary Service are undertaking software migration to a new authoring and publishing tool (Mauro), which is not fully live, and the latest release has been updated using this. Therefore, if any discrepancies with any of the pages are noticed, please contact the Service Desk via email support.digitalservices@nhs.net.

NHS Data Dictionary images
About the NHS Data Model and Dictionary
The purpose of the NHS Data Model and Dictionary and other complementary resources and services.
Help and guidance
Help, guidance and demonstrations relating to the content of the NHS Data Model and Dictionary.
Data Sets
Data Sets provide the specification for data collections and for data analyses.
Data Elements
Data Elements are the data items used within Data Sets.
Attributes
The part of the data model describing the characteristics of Classes. Attributes define the data within the data model.
Classes
The part of the data model describing the aspects of the health and care business with significant characteristics.
NHS Business Definitions
The part of the data model that links the logical classes to the context of the health and care business.
Supporting Information
Provides information to help users understand content in the NHS Data Model and Dictionary.
All Items Index
Lists all the items in the dictionary in alphabetical order.
Canonical Data Model (CDM) Glossary
The glossary provides the key terminology and definitions used across the Canonical Data Model.