For an IDB upload to be valid at submission to the SDCS Cloud it must contain data in at least the mandatory tables for the specific data set you are submitting data for. Please refer to the specific guidance for each data set.
With any tables where data is submitted, all mandatory fields within the tables must be completed - these can be found in the Technical Output Specification for the specific data set available . The following coding is used to define fields in the Technical Output Specification:
- Mandatory: These data items MUST be reported without exception. Failure to submit these items will result in the rejection of the record.
- Required: These data items MUST be reported where they apply. It is a legal and contractual requirement to submit these data items where the service has been provided to a patient. Failure to submit these data items will not result in the rejection of the record but may affect the derivation of national indicators or national analysis. Please note that the purpose of the data set is not to change clinical practice.
- Optional: These data items MAY be submitted on an optional basis at the submitter's discretion.
- Pilot: These data items have been included within the specification for piloting purposes only to support future implementation. These data items have not been approved and/or mandated and SHOULD NOT be submitted unless specifically requested by NHS Digital.
Derived: These data items are derived during pre and/or post deadline processing for inclusion in the extracts made available for download. Please note that these are not for submission to the Submission Portal and are not included in the submission file.Activity data must also meet the inclusion rules as described above under ‘Reporting Periods’ in that data submitted should be for all active referrals opened (start date), closed (end date) or open throughout the given reporting period.
Files submitted that don’t meet the minimum requirement specified above will be rejected with a file-level rejection.
If you are receiving a lot of validation errors when making your initial submission it may be worth taking an iterative approach, starting with a minimal submission including the mandatory tables of a small subset of patients (e.g. 5-10), including the mandatory tables. This will test the basic validity of your data and check for any process errors that may be causing validation errors. Once a successful test submission has been made with a minimal submission then the number of patients/records can be gradually increased to make a full submission of data.