National Workforce Reporting System (NWRS)

Any new requests for access to the NWRS reporting module should be addressed to enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk, quoting 'NWRS Access Request' in the subject field of the email. Please also include information regarding the organisation(s) that you work for, so that the correct permissions can be granted.

The data entry module is only available to GP Practice staff registered as NWRS users and is an update of the former workforce census module, which is where general practices can add their workforce information, to fulfil their requirements for the workforce Minimum Data Set (wMDS).

The reporting module is available to all registered users of the NWRS and contains a suite of reports containing published, non-identifiable, GP workforce data supplied by GP practices. Functionality of the module includes:

• Ability to tailor reports to the user requirements, based on, staff group, job role, age, gender, etc.
• Access to data for each census back to September 2015
• Downloadable charts and supporting data
• Data quality reports to quickly, and easily, identify practices with data quality issues

Guidance to support the use of the NWRS is available using the following links:

• NWRS Data Entry Module Guidance
• NWRS Reporting Module Guidance

A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document is available here. Please refer to this prior to contacting the enquiries mailbox.

Information is extracted from the NWRS on a quarterly basis, as set out in the following timetable:

Practices log into the NWRS to update their workforce records and their data sharing preferences on the ‘Practice Preferences’ page, by selecting the appropriate tick boxes.

A quarterly collection cycle enables Health Education England (HEE), NHS England and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to have more frequent, accurate, complete and timely information to aid in their decision-making and workforce planning processes, without increasing the burden to practices.

Once information has been entered it remains on the system; data only requires amending if staff details change, or when absences / vacancies have occurred.

A reminder email will be issued to all practices a month before each extraction date, with a further reminder being issued approximately a week before. Following the data extraction, we will review the data provided and practices may receive data quality emails, where required.

The wMDS data specification includes the collection of Absence and Vacancy data for each practice. All instances of absence (not including annual leave) must be recorded on the system. Details on how to complete this are included in the User Guidance.

This FPN template was produced as an information leaflet to inform practice staff that the practice will be supplying their workforce information to NHS Digital.
Please direct your staff to the FPN, which explains how their personal data is collected, why it is collected, and how it will be processed.

The FPN is available here.

The NWRS is fully GDPR compliant and a summary of why and how we process your data, including your rights, can be found here.

If you have any queries that are not answered by the above guidance, or need any further support in using the module, please email your query to enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk, quoting 'NWRS’ in the subject field of the email.