The National Cost Collection publication comprises aggregated costs (the average unit cost of providing defined services to NHS patients in England) and patient-level costs/PLICS (a cost based on the specific interactions a patient has, and the events related to their healthcare activity).

NHS providers submit costs annually. These costs are used to inform a number of work streams including the PLICS dashboards, the Model Health System, the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme and NHS Payment Scheme prices. They are a key source of information about the cost of NHS services.

2023/24 National Cost Collection data

The National Cost Collection data itself is published in the following ways:

• the national schedule of NHS costs
• the National Cost Collection Index
• organisation level cost MFF adjusted
• organisation level cost unadjusted
• organisation level files: excluded cost and look up tables.

Power BI dashboards

This year’s (2023/24) data has been published as Power BI dashboards, to improve usability. Please note that it will not be available in Excel format.

• National schedule of NHS costs – The main schedule, showing data for the whole range of services provided by provider, including admitted patient care on a finished consultant episode (FCE) basis.
• National Cost Collection Index – The National Cost Collection Index (NCCI) is a measure of the relative cost difference between NHS providers.

2023/24 National Cost Collection data files

• Organisation level source data part 1 – Unadjusted data as submitted by NHS providers in England.
• Organisation level source data part 2 – Market forces factor (MFF) adjusted data.
• Organisation level source data part 3 – Remaining organisational source level data and reference tables including calculation of the impact of IFRS16 and PFI on the 2023/24 National Cost Collection.

Further information on the 2023/24 National Cost Collection, including details of the context for calculation of PFI costs, can be found on the FutureNHS Costing workspace.

Potential data quality issues

Since publication of the 2023/24 NCC data, we have been receiving feedback from trusts about potential data quality issues.

We are currently investigating possible overstated activity numbers for mental health provider spells (MHPS) data for some trusts. Potential causes of the issue could be duplicate records submitted to MHPS (due to multiple ward types in one spell), or occupied bed days not being available in the PLICS dataset (the bed day figures reported is calculated using start/end date of spells). Please use MHPS data with caution. We may update MHPS activity figures following the investigation.

We will continue to investigate any other potential data issues that are identified. Please contact costing@england.nhs.uk if you have any questions.

Archived cost collections

• 2022/23 National Cost Collection Data Publication
• 2021/22 National Cost Collection Data Publication
• 2020/21 National Cost Collection Data Publication
• 2019/20 National Cost Collection Data Publication
• 2018/19 National Cost Collection Data Publication

You can also access reference costs for the financial years 2017/18 and 2016/17 on the page Archived Reference Costs, along with a link to earlier cost collections on the Department of Health website.

Help and support

If you have any queries on this project or costing in general please email costing@england.nhs.uk