RTS Application Release Notes

RTS Application Development

New changes, improvements and fixes are released in RTS regularly.  The updates may address problems with system functionality, improve performance or introduce new functionality to meet the needs of RTS users.

The RTS development teams works in an Agile methodology, meaning that we are adaptive, collaborative and cross-functional to implement changes in RTS.  The RTS Product Owner works together with Business Analysts and software developers in order to deliver the best possible system for our users.

Below is a list of releases in RTS since it was launched in 2016, in reverse chronological order.  For more details about each release, please see the detailed notes below.

Milestone Releases in RTS

• CPMS R1.0 - March 2016 - First release of CPMS

• CPMS/RTS R1.0 - April 2016 - First release of RTS in CPMS

• CPMS/RTS R2.0- CPMS R2 - July 2016 - CPMS-RTS integration (synchronisation)

• CPMS/RTS R3.0 - April 2018 - ODS Alignment (.csv file downloads)

• CPMS/RTS R4.0 - December 2021 - Data model harmonisation and ODS API integration

• CPMS/RTS R5.0 and RTS 1.0 - July 2022 - Back-end of decoupled RTS into production

Next scheduled release in RTS will be 1.15 - scheduled release date 22 July 2025

RTS 1.14 - 25 June 2025

Problems

• A fix has been implemented to modify the database to enable better support for special characters (e.g. Czech names with diacritics: Č ý ů )

• A fix has been implemented to resolve a validation defect in data uploads that had resulted in duplicate RTS identifiers

RTS 1.13 - 30 April 2025

Improvements

• The daily ingestion of the NHS England Organisation Data Set has been refactored to use a long-running ECS function, in preparation for transition from the ODS ORD API to the ODS FHIR API later this year

Problems

• A fix has been implemented to clear the Effective End Date from an Organisation Role when the status is updated from Terminated or Nullified to Active

• A fix has been implemented to prevent duplicate organisation roles from being created when roles are created manually by RTS Administrators and a similar role is created through the daily ODS ingestion

RTS 1.12 - 10 July 2024

Improvements

• Email alerts for the RTS applications will be sent to the new RDNCC Data Management address

Problems

• The "Previous Name" in the organisation record is now displaying the most recent name of the organisation, instead of the oldest name

RTS 1.11 -  16 May 2024

Change

• The organisation search results on the RTS home page has now been updated to include the organisation code in the table, to help differentiate between organisations with similar details

Improvement

• Security improvements identified during recent penetration testing were released into RTS

RTS 1.10 - 24 January 2024

Improvement

• Accessibility improvements have been made in RTS, following the recommendations of The Shaw Trust

RTS 1.9 - 05 Dec 2023

Improvement

• CRNCC-1218 RTS Accessibility Assessment

RTS 1.8 - 28 Nov 2023

Problem

• CRNCC-1223 PRB0040149 - RTS Termset API not using correct modified date

RTS 1.7 - 18 May 2023

Problem

• CRNCC-1216 PRB0040147 - Sort Order Defect in RTS Sites API

RTS1.6 - 10 May 2023

Improvement

• CRNCC-962 ODS Import alerting

• CRNCC-1129 RTS Logging of ODS Failure due to no records

• CRNCC-1153 RTS Store Email Password in Secrets

Problem

• CRNCC-821 PRB0040120 - Organisation Roles not being closed properly when the organisation is terminated/nullified

RTS 1.4 - 21 Feb 2023

Problem

• CRNCC-924 CS0009303: NIHR Learn - Live DRTS Authentication

• CRNCC-956 Missing Terraform tags

RTS 1.3 - 18 Jan 2023

Problem

• CRNCC-835 PRB0040123: Allow RTS to receive incoming connections from the Netherlands

Improvement

• CRNCC-836 Remove developer access from RTS

• CRNCC-837 Alarms Firing incorrectly on DRTS

• CRNCC-840 Update RDS security group

RTS 1.2 - 10 Jan 2023

Problem

• CRNCC-794 PRB0040108 - Problem with RTS-CPMS Sync - Sites not synchronising correctly

• CRNCC-801 PRB0040109 -  New RTS API Defect - Address changes not synchronising

• CRNCC-820 PRB0040119 - Status not displaying correctly in RTS GetTermsetList API

RTS 1.1 - 19 Dec 2022

Problem

• CRNCC-818 PRB0040118 - Problem with ODS Ingest updating organisation roles

RTS 1.0 - 2022

• Fully decoupled, standalone RTS application is released into production

CPMS/RTS 5.0 and RTS 1.0 - 12 July 2022

• This first release is the whole 'backend' of Decoupled RTS.  Its function will be to receive a daily organisation data update from the NHS and update the Decoupled RTS database with this.

• This is the first part of modularising RTS and removing all RTS functionality and data from within CPMS in order to re-platform RTS as a standalone application.

• A new user interface was launched (https://rts.nihr.ac.uk) and a new backend entirely separate from CPMS was set up.

CPMS 5.7.0 - 26 Oct 2022

• CPMS connected to decoupled RTS in the live environment

CPMS/RTS 4.0 - 7 Dec 2021

An update was made to the NIHR Reference Terminology Service (RTS) to digitally link it to the NHS Digital Organisation Data Service (ODS). This means that ODS updates, including new site codes and trust mergers, will now be received daily by RTS and reflected immediately in the Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS), ensuring that any requests for new ODS site codes feed through automatically and are reflected sooner in CPMS.

The new digital link with ODS means new functionality to search by postcode has also been made possible and is now available for use when adding sites anywhere in the CPMS study record, and when resolving sites within commercial study submissions.

Slideset outlining changes to RTS and CPMS: RTS Guide to RTS 4.0 Changes 2021-06 

• Mapping table: Site Type to Org Type Mapping for RTS 4.0.xlsxSite Type to Org Type Mapping for RTS 4.0.xlsx shows the current site types mapped to the organisation types that we will use when RTS 4.0 is delivered.  This will be the only change affecting the RTS Sites API, all the available records and the structure of the API will remain the same. 

CPMS/RTS 3.3 - 22 May 2020

Changes to how RTS handled data from NHS Digital's Organisation Data Service were developed to accommodate new functionality from ODS and also to fix issues in the existing process:

• DMND0006048 - New Organisation Role Changes: R9-R12 updates

  • Assigning specific roles assigned to new organisations and types to sites

  • Aligning roles used in RTS with those which have recently been implemented in ODS data as provided by the ODS API

  • Changing the ‘parent’ relationships of specific site types whose parents will no longer be needed after April 2020

  • Implementing new ODS roles in RTS

  • New organisation types from ODS being added to the import process

• DMND0001981 - Allow ODS import to update terminated records, to avoid the creation of duplicate records

CPMS/RTS 3.1.9 - 12 Feb 2020 

• PRB0040561, PRB0041282, PRB0041412, PRB0041437 - Duplicate records created by ODS data Import

• CRN056557 Exclude the ennam.csv file as part of the monthly ODS import job (raised via service desk during development with PRB0040561)

CPMS/RTS 3.1.5 - Nov 2019

No application downtime

• PRB0041372 RTS ODS Job - Removing files

CPMS/RTS 2.5.5 - 11 Feb 2019

This patch will provide fixes to the following problems: 

• PRB0041178 - RTS/ODS download process not picking-up new/changed Branch Surgeries.

• PRB0040764 - Trust as a site is removed from TrustSiteMapping.

• PRB0041213 - RTS ODS Download Failed.

• Story 610 – Monthly ODS download [TBC]

CPMS/RTS 2.5.3 - 08 Nov 2018

Nullified Roles being changed to Terminated when Organisation is terminated

When an organisation is Terminated in the Reference and Terminology Service (RTS) , all of its roles are Terminated, including any that had previously been Nullified. This contradicts the requirement that Terminated and Nullified roles can't be changed. Only active roles should be terminated when an organisation is Terminated. This impacts reporting, for example on CRO activity and therefore a fix is being implemented.

CPMS/RTS 2.5.2 - 17 Oct 2018

We will be deploying a batch of problem fixes to the Reference and Terminology Service (RTS). Whilst this is happening, CPMS will be offline and unavailable. This work is planned to start at 7am and CPMS should be back on line by 10am.

• PRB0041106: Resolves an issue with missing address data for Non-NHS Organisations from ODS

• PRB0041138: Tidies-up how we record Dispensary sites

• PRB0041140: Prevents organisations being assigned duplicate roles

• PRB0041137: Ensures that different types of Educational Establishments are recorded correctly.

• PRB0041139: Resolves an issue with duplicate addresses being created for sites

CPMS/RTS 2.4 - Apr 2018

RTS changed to import data from the .csv files provided by NHS Digital and to stop using the Access database they had been providing.

ORGANISATIONS

New Organisation Types

Educational Establishments

Coding of organisations in the ODS eschools file is more granular. The ‘Type of Establishment’ field in the ODS data is now being used to assign a more granular set of types to Educational Establishments. The full list of these new types is shown below.

We will continue to assign the SCHOOL type to schools from outside England or which are not coded by ODS.

EDEST01 - COMMUNITY SCHOOL

EDEST10 - OTHER INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SCHOOL

EDEST11 - OTHER INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

EDEST12 - FOUNDATION SPECIAL SCHOOL

EDEST14 - PUPIL REFERRAL UNIT

EDEST15 - LA NURSERY SCHOOL

EDEST18 - FURTHER EDUCATION

EDEST02 - VOLUNTARY AIDED SCHOOL

EDEST24 - SECURE UNITS

EDEST25 - OFFSHORE SCHOOLS

EDEST26 - SERVICE CHILDRENS EDUCATION

EDEST27 - MISCELLANEOUS

EDEST28 - ACADEMY SPONSOR LED

EDEST29 - HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

EDEST03 - VOLUNTARY CONTROLLED SCHOOL

EDEST30 - WELSH ESTABLISHMENT

EDEST31 - SIXTH FORM CENTRES

EDEST32 - SPECIAL POST 16 INSTITUTION

EDEST33 - ACADEMY SPECIAL SPONSOR LED

EDEST34 - ACADEMY CONVERTER

EDEST35 - FREE SCHOOLS

EDEST36 - FREE SCHOOLS SPECIAL

EDEST37 - BRITISH SCHOOLS OVERSEAS

EDEST38 - FREE SCHOOLS - ALTERNATIVE PROVISION

EDEST39 - FREE SCHOOLS - 16-19

EDEST40 - UNIVERSITY TECHNICAL COLLEGE

EDEST41 - STUDIO SCHOOLS

EDEST42 - ACADEMY ALTERNATIVE PROVISION CONVERTER

EDEST43 - ACADEMY ALTERNATIVE PROVISION SPONSOR LED

EDEST44 - ACADEMY SPECIAL CONVERTER

EDEST45 - ACADEMY 16-19 CONVERTER

EDEST46 - ACADEMY 16-19 SPONSOR LED

EDEST47 - CHILDREN'S CENTRE

EDEST48 - CHILDREN'S CENTRE LINKED SITE

EDEST05 - FOUNDATION SCHOOL

EDEST56 - INSTITUTION FUNDED BY OTHER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT

EDEST06 - CITY TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE

EDEST07 - COMMUNITY SPECIAL SCHOOL

EDEST08 - NON-MAINTAINED SPECIAL SCHOOL

EDEST00 - UNKNOWN SCHOOL TYPE (NB: this is not an ODS-based type but has been added to the list to allow typing of organisations not assigned a type by ODS.)

Health Boards

Welsh and Scottish Health Boards are now Typed correctly. (Previously they had been typed as PCTs and TRUSTs respectively). CPMS has been configured to treat these in the same way as TRUSTS in terms of functionality and relationships. Additionally, Welsh Local Health Board Sites have also been added (these had previously been types as PCTSITEs).

CTSITE - Care Trust Site

WLHB - Welsh Local Health Board

WLHBSITE - Welsh Local Health Board Site

SRHB - Scottish Regional Health Board

New Organisation Roles

Health Boards (and related organisations)

GPPRACTICEinWLHB - GP Practice in Welsh Local Health Board

WLHBinWALES - Welsh Local Health Board in NHS Wales

WLHBinLCRN - Welsh Local Health Board in NHS Wales

SRHBinLCRN - Scottish Regional Health Board in LCRN

GPPRACTICEinSRHB - Scottish General Medical Practice in SRHB

NHSDENTALinWLHB - Dental Practice in Welsh Local Health Board

GP Practice Prescribing Settings

The Prescribing Setting for English and Welsh GP Practices are now recorded for each practice using a new set of role types as listed below:

PRSCSTG00 - Other

PRSCSTG01 - WIC Practice

PRSCSTG02 - OOH Practice

PRSCSTG03 - WIC + OOH Practice

PRSCSTG04 - GP Practice

PRSCSTG08 - Public Health Service

PRSCSTG09 - Community Health Service

PRSCSTG10 - Hospital Service

PRSCSTG11 - Optometry Service

PRSCSTG12 - Urgent & Emergency Care

PRSCSTG13 - Hospice

PRSCSTG14 - Care Home / Nursing Home

PRSCSTG15 - Border Force

PRSCSTG16 - Young Offender Institution

PRSCSTG17 - Secure Training Centre

PRSCSTG18 - Secure Children's Home

PRSCSTG19 - Immigration Removal Centre

PRSCSTG20 - Court

PRSCSTG21 - Police Custody

PRSCSTG22 - Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC)

PRSCSTG24 - Other – Justice Estate

PRSCSTG25 - Prison

Educational Establishments

EDESTinCCG - Educational Establishment in CCG

EDESTinLAUTH - Educational Establishment in Local Authority

Other organisations

NONNHSinLAT - ODS Non-NHS Organisation in LAT

ESPHAinNHS - Special Health Authority in LAT

ROinNHS - RO in NHS

SITES

New Site Types

CTSITE - Care Trust Site

WLHBSITE - Welsh Local Health Board Site

WLHBasSITE - Welsh Local Health Board acting as a Site

SRHBasSITE - Scottish Regional Health Board acting as a Site

EDESTasSITE - see list of school types above

Site Types Removed

In some cases, sites in RTS have more than one scoper/parent. An example of this is CAREHOMESITEs which have a ‘commercial’ parent organisation (the company which owns them) and a Current Care Organisation. So a CAREHOMESITE in RTS might appear twice in the endpoint, as CAREHOMESITEinCAREHOME and CAREHOMESITEinCCG.

In future we will only be recording the NHS relationships for these sites types. This should simplify the synchronisation between CPMS and other systems and remove potential confusion for users. The full set of Site Types being removed is shown below:

• CAREHOMESITEinCAREHOME

• OPTICALSITE

CPMS/RTS 3.0 - 30 Apr 2018 

Updating the way that we keep our data on NHS organisations and sites. NHS Digital supply ODS (Organisation Data Service) data which lists all of the organisations which make-up the NHS and the relationships between them. It is vital for CPMS to keep this complete and up to date by storing it in our Reference and Terminology Service (RTS). ODS are changing the way in which they supply the data so we have been making significant changes to RTS to accommodate the new arrangements.

Updating RTS to download and process CSV files from NHS Digital

CPMS/RTS 2.3 - 18 Aug 2016

ODS Sync updates

CPMS/RTS 2.1 & RTS 2.2 - 30 Jul 2016

No further information available

CPMS/RTS 2.0 - 13 Jul 2016

RTS integration (synchronisation) and priority defect fixes: 

• • User Interface enhancements

  • CSV uploads to create and correct reference data, 

  • ODS dataset ingestion, 

  • access control

  • audit

CPMS - RTS integration (synchronisation) and priority defect fixes: 

• 2417 - data cleansing to resolve around 10,000 duplicate sites

• 2628 - cannot save PI name for some studies - side effect of 2417

CPMS/RTS 1.0 - 30 Apr 2016

Initial launch of Reference & Terminology Service as a part of the Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS) to provide organisation and site reference data as well as a limited set of terms to be used in CPMS.

• Integration with ODS

• Exposing API to grab RTS data

• RTS user interface within CPMS application