The CYPHS data set describes national definitions for the extraction of data in relation to the following key areas:

• personal and demographic
• social and personal circumstances
• breastfeeding and nutrition
• care event and screening activity
• diagnoses, including long term conditions and childhood disabilities
• scored assessments

Community Services that are funded and/or provided by the NHS are required to include their clinical activity in the CYPHS data set provided the patient is less than 19 years old. These activities may take place in locations including health centres, Sure Start centres, day care facilities, schools or community centres, mobile facilities or the patient's own home.

As a result of the Transforming Community Services (TCS) agenda, Community Services can exist within the following different organisation types (both foundation trusts and non-foundation trusts):

• acute trusts.
• mental health trusts
• community healthcare trusts
• care trusts.
• social enterprises
• integrated care organisations
• any qualified providers
• independent sector providers (including third sector)

The standard also applies to suppliers of IT systems used by CYPHS.

System suppliers

From 01 September 2015, CYPHS systems must be fully conformant with this standard.

Care providers

From 01 September 2015, providers of NHS-funded CYPHS must be able to collect information locally, and from 15 October 2015 must begin submitting CYPHS data set submissions in accordance with this standard.

The CYPHS data set defines an output standard, which is to be compiled from existing clinical records to enable monthly submissions to the Bureau Service Portal. It does not represent a definitive list of data items and values which may need to be captured for care delivery, merely a subset to which local data should be mapped for national submission and analysis purposes. NHS-funded Services will have the flexibility to adopt any local data collection process and employ whichever IT system that is capable of extracting data in accordance with the output specification.

The CYPHS data set will be submitted using an XML format. An XML conversion tool package for the CYPHS data set has been developed by NHS Digital. This is intended to enable providers to load or copy their data into the provided table structure. Once complete, a routine can be run that will export the submission into the required XML format ready for submission to the Bureau Service Portal. The associated XML schemas are available as outlined below. A copy of the draft conversion tool is currently available on request from our Contact Centre, please email  enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk. 

 The current version of the conversion tool is v1.83, please ensure that you are using this current version, if you are experiencing any errors during your submission, it may be that you are using an older version.

To start making submissions, you will also need to register to use the submission portal and supply a data user certificate (DUC) form, which you can now find on our website under 'download the CYPHS dataset data user certificate' .  You can email the Exeter help desk if you need any further help.  

The associated XML schemas are available as outlined below. There is also a guidance document available which explains how to open a CYPHS XML extract in Access 2003, 2007 and 2010.

Submissions will take place on a monthly basis. For each reporting period, data providers should populate their XML schema file with data collected from their own local systems, and upload this to the central system using the online Bureau Service Portal (BSP). In order to make your submissions, you need to register to use the BSP by emailing the Exeter helpdesk. 

Each submission window for the dataset will be for one month, and will be open for a Primary submission and a Refresh for the previous period.

For example, in October, any data that was recorded in September must be submitted. This is the September Primary submission.

In November, any data that was recorded in October must be submitted. This is the October Primary submission. There is then another chance to submit the September data (September Refresh).

Post-deadline processing time is likely to be around 7 days. CYPHS data is required to be submitted monthly, the timetable for which is shown below:

* IMPORTANT: There will be no CYPHS Refresh Submission window for September 2017 data.

Providers will therefore have a shorter window to submit September 2017 data, as only the Primary submission window will take place. It is important that providers ensure a September 2017 Primary submission is made as there will be no further opportunity to submit that data to NHS Digital. This change will allow a primary and refresh submission window for the first CSDS submission (of October 2017 data) and maximises the time available to collate and test submissions of the expanded data set.

**  Learn more about the subsequent data submission dates for the Community Services Data Set (CSDS). 

Scheduled system maintenance/updates

For further detailed information on scheduled system maintenance and updates, please refer to the notice function on the Bureau Service Portal (BSP), which provides advance notice of downtime.

CYPHS data set publications are now available and are published every month. 

You can use our information and tools to help implement the CYPHS data set in your organisation. The information standard notice provides an overview of the CYPHS data set requirements, along with other published documents.

CYPHS implementation planning template

You can use this planning template to plan your organisation's activity for implementing the CYPHS data set. The resulting plan should give a high-level picture of how your organisation intends to tackle this implementation within the anticipated timescales.

CYPHS readiness assessment tool

You can use this readiness assessment tool to measure your organisation's CYPHS data set implementation progress. This spans a baseline assessment, regular reviews and a final review to report successful implementation.

CYPHS system conformance checklist

This is a worksheet tool for service providers to assess how well their local IT systems 'map' to the data set specification.

The XML schemas describe the structure of the exports and can be used to assist in the development of in-house analytical and checking tools.

NB: Pre-deadline processing is applied to every file uploaded to the BSP. It produces a pre-deadline extract and Data Summary reports.

Post-deadline processing is only applied to the 'last good' primary (and refresh if submitted) files that have passed validation by the submission deadline.

This is because files need to flow in sequence through the post-deadline processing, with all refresh files processed before primary files and only one of each type for each provider.

Both pre-deadline and post-deadline extracts have the same file format, structure and elements.

Please note that these documents are currently in draft form and are subject to future updates to allow us to address any issues or queries which users raise.

The Data Model has been approved by SCCI and therefore constitute a final version that cannot be changed without going through the SCCI corrigendum or change request process.  The TOS has been approved by SCCI, however, validations and derivations are not controlled through the SCCI process and can, therefore, be subject to change.

The following document contains details of high level changes which users have requested to be included in the next version of the CYPHS Data Set. We are always happy to receive constructive comments and suggestions for improvement, which will be evaluated on a case by case basis. Recommendations can be made by emailing  enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk. 

If you have an enquiry about MSDS, would like to receive regular information updates and details regarding upcoming events, please note that you must be on our distribution list. If this is something you would like to be added to, please contact the NHS Digital contact centre on enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk.