National Cost Collection for the NHS

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.

2022/23 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 (2022/23) data has for the first time been published as Power BI dashboards, to improve usability.

  • 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.

Excel files

The 2022/23 NCC data is now also available in Excel format.

Data issues

Please note that this is re-published data following issues identified with the original publication in August 2024. In resolving these issues we identified a difference between the Summary Report and PLICS Outpatient data for the fiscal years 2022-23. This was caused by a mismatch of activity and cost data in the PLICS Outpatient dataset for 43 providers. While aggregate totals at provider matched, there were differences at a more detailed level (such as Point of Delivery level or Treatment Function Code level). This issue has now been fully addressed, ensuring consistency across reports.

We have also found another possible data issue that affected five providers (at a smaller scale – please see table below). All the affected providers have been contacted.

Feed Provider code Summary activity Summary cost PLICS activity PLICS cost Trust Activity difference Cost difference
SI RM1 153,600 £70,104,206.25 153,603 £70,102,762.98 Norfolk and Norwich University 3 -£1,443.27
SI RNZ 52,972 £17,036,767.70 52,971 £17,036,626.58 Salisbury -1 -£141.12
SI RP4 58,462 £38,867,896.77 58,462 £39,174,314.63 Great Ormond Street 0 £306,417.86
SWC RP4 23,439 £76,877,360.17 23,439 £76,834,177.73 Great Ormond Street 0 -£43,182.44
OP RRK 1,923,417 £354,244,191.40 1,923,417 £354,223,046.40 Birmingham University 0 -£21,145.00
SI RX1 239,660 £89,076,605.17 234,497 £87,936,790.12 Nottingham University -5,163 -£1,139,815.05

2022/23 National Cost Collection data files

Changes to the 2022/23 National Cost Collection data which have been implemented since the original publication are listed in the NCC update log.

We no longer publish a reconciliation report as the NCC data publication no longer excludes providers with draft accounts or with a cost difference higher than the threshold (1%) between their NCC submission and audited accounts. It is available to providers on request to costing@england.nhs.uk

Archived cost collections

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