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Test files available for SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model alignment

This is an update to the Delen news published on 1 July 2025. The test files for the phase 1 changes to the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension are now available. The files and supporting information are on Delen.

NHS England now plans to go live with these changes in October 2025, instead of September 2025 as previously communicated.

For more detail about this work, see NHS England's Updating the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model page.

If you have questions or concerns, contact nhsdigital.ukmeds@nhs.net by 5pm on Friday 8 August 2025.

18 July 2025 9:00am

Aligning the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model with SNOMED International

NHS England has added more detail and examples to its Updating the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model page. This follows feedback from the recent user survey.

The plan is to:

release a test file with the Phase 1 changes for SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension users in July 2025
go live with the Phase 1 changes in the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension in September 2025

If the September timeframe is likely to cause issues, or if you would like to discuss this work, contact: nhsdigital.ukmeds@nhs.net

We will share another update when the test file is available.

9 July 2025 1:00pm

Share your views on SNOMED International's proposal to increase description lengths

We want to update you on SNOMED International's proposal to increase the maximum length of Fully Specified Name (FSN) and Synonym descriptions from 255 to 4,096 characters. More information about this proposal is available in the Delen news article.

The change will affect UK users of content from SNOMED International’s Medicinal Product Hierarchy, whether taken from the SNOMED CT International Edition or the SNOMED CT UK Edition. However, it will not affect the NHS dictionary of medicines and devices (dm+d), and we do not plan to make any dm+d changes in response to this proposal.

We are reviewing how this change might affect FSNs in the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension, but we do not expect it to affect Preferred Terms (PTs) in the UK Drug Extension.

SNOMED International currently plan to implement this change in January 2026, with it taking effect in April 2026 UK releases.

If UK stakeholders need more time to implement this change or have any questions or concerns, contact SNOMED International directly at:

release@snomed.org

We also request that UK stakeholders copy:

information.standards@nhs.net

so NHS England can stay informed of any feedback.

14 January 2025 9:00am