Optical Site Code Request
Introduction
The Organisation Data Service (ODS), part of NHS Connecting for Health, needs to capture all sites which deliver ophthalmic treatment in England and Wales. This is in order to allow the ophthalmic industry to participate in certain new systems and services being rolled out by the NHS, such as NHSmail. ODS is to undertake a data collection exercise in order to collate the information required.
Background
What is ODS?
The Organisation Data Service (ODS) is provided by NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH), an agency of the Department of Health. The ODS team is responsible for the publication of unique identifier codes for all organisations and practitioners.
These codes are used in numerous NHS administrative functions such as processing central returns, patient administration, commissioning and message handling. They enable the effective routing of electronic messaging throughout the NHS by providing a reliable method of identifying message source and destination locations.
The codes are also used in many of the new systems and services being introduced as part of the ongoing program to introduce upgraded IT systems into the NHS. These web pages contain more information on NHS CFH, including more information on the systems and services themselves.
What is the need?
A requirement has arisen to incorporate optical sites into the existing ODS dataset, primarily driven by the NHSmail project. NHSmail is a secure national email and directory service for NHS staff in England and Scotland. It is provided free of charge and is available from any internet connected computer.
The service is currently used by over 300,000 NHS Staff in England and Scotland. The service is endorsed by both the British Medical Agency and the Royal College of Nursing for the exchange of patient data and approved by the Cabinet Office for exchanging sensitive information with other Government Organisations. During the closing months of 2008 the service will be migrated to a Microsoft Exchange 2007 service.
There is a requirement to allocate optometrists and dispensing opticians NHSmail accounts and to enable them to begin using the service where appropriate. A valid ODS organisation code is a prerequisite to obtaining an NHSmail account; once the optical site data is available it will be possible for optometrists to use the service.
Although NHSmail are the main driver for this collection exercise, including optical site data into the ODS dataset also provides further scope for the future uptake of additional NHS CFH systems and services by the optical sector.
The ODS team have been in communication with the three representative bodies that work on behalf of the ophthalmic sector; the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians (FODO), the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) and the Association of Optometrists (AOP). All three bodies have endorsed this exercise and recognise the benefits of having ODS unique identifiers for organisations and sites in the ophthalmic sector available for use within the NHS.