A unique code identifying each MAIN SPECIALTY designated by Royal Colleges. This is the same as the NHS OCCUPATION CODES describing specialties.

Specialties are divisions of clinical work which may be defined by body systems (dermatology), age (paediatrics), clinical technology (nuclear medicine), clinical function (rheumatology), group of diseases (oncology) or combinations of these factors. Only Specialty titles recognised by the Royal Colleges and Faculties should be used. This list is maintained by the General and Specialist Medical Practice (Education, Training and Qualifications) Order 2003 and European Primary and Specialist Dental Qualifications Regulations 1998.

Each CONSULTANT should be assigned a MAIN SPECIALTY by the Organisation to which the CONSULTANT is contracted. For physicians and surgeons with a generalist component to their work, the MAIN SPECIALTY should be general medicine or general surgery. The hallmark of a general physician or general surgeon is the continued care of unselected emergency referrals. The MAIN SPECIALTY is specific to a Health Care Provider. If, for example, a CONSULTANT physician working in two Health Care Providers has a generalist component to the work in one and not the other, general medicine is only assigned as the MAIN SPECIALTY in the former case. CONSULTANTS in general medicine or general surgery may also have specialist interests and these should be recorded as well as the MAIN SPECIALTY.

The initial source of the information should be the designation on the CONSULTANT's contract. This should be checked periodically against the work a CONSULTANT is actually doing so that the statistics can relate to a CONSULTANT's current type of work.

The MAIN SPECIALTY only should be used for the purpose of producing Specialty costing statistics and for Workforce statistics where links with ACTIVITY and finance are required. Other specialist interests of CONSULTANTS may be recorded for workforce planning purposes.

This will be used to indicate the skill level of medical and dental employees.

Pseudo MAIN SPECIALTY CODES should be used in Commissioning Data Set messages for lead CARE PROFESSIONALS other than CONSULTANT medical and dental staff e.g. 560, 950 and 960.

The MAIN SPECIALTY CODE for GENERAL PRACTITIONERS is General Medical Practice or General Dental Practice.

Joint Consultant Clinic ACTIVITY should be recorded against the MAIN SPECIALTY CODE of the CONSULTANT managing the clinic.

For further information, contact NHS Digital by email at: enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk with the subject "Main Specialty and Treatment Function Codes".

National Codes:

TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE is a unique identifier for a TREATMENT FUNCTION.

TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE is recorded to report the specialised service within which the PATIENT is treated.

It is based on MAIN SPECIALTY but also includes approved sub-specialties and treatment specialties used by lead CARE PROFESSIONALS including CONSULTANTS.

TREATMENT FUNCTION, rather than the Royal College or Faculty specialty, is required on most activity returns and in the Commissioning Data Sets.

TREATMENT FUNCTION CODES should be used for all aggregate Central Returns unless otherwise stated eg National Workforce Data Set uses MAIN SPECIALTY CODES.

GENERAL MEDICAL PRACTITIONER, NURSE and Allied Health Professional/ Biomedical Scientist/ Clinical Scientist ACTIVITY should be recorded against the TREATMENT FUNCTION under which the PATIENT is treated.

Joint Consultant Clinic ACTIVITY should be recorded against the TREATMENT FUNCTION which best describes the specialised service.

Assigning a Treatment Function Code:

• Assigning a TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE for a SERVICE is a decision which must be made locally. For national reporting purposes, only the TREATMENT FUNCTION CODES listed in the table below must be used.
• Recording of activity according to TREATMENT FUNCTION CODES is not on the basis of the procedure carried out, but should be allocated according to whether a specialised SERVICE exists within the Health Care Provider for that TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE, such as a CLINIC OR FACILITY.
• TREATMENT FUNCTION CODES have not been mapped to procedures or MAIN SPECIALTY.
• TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE should be assigned irrespective of the type of CARE PROFESSIONAL responsible. This is also applicable where the name of the TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE suggests it is limited for use by a particular Healthcare Profession.
• A change in TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE, but no change in responsible CARE PROFESSIONAL, does not initiate a new episode of care. For the Commissioning Data Sets, the ACTIVITY TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE reported should be that which is recorded at the CDS ACTIVITY DATE.

For further information, contact NHS Digital by email at: enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk with the subject "Main Specialty and Treatment Function Codes".

Further information on the scope of each TREATMENT FUNCTION CODE is provided at: Main Specialty and Treatment Function Codes Table.

National Codes: