Aligning the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model with SNOMED International

NHS England posted an update on Delen in December 2025 about the planned phase 3 and phase 4 changes to the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension. NHS England asked for feedback on its plan to publish the changes as a single, combined release. It did not receive any concerns by 15 January 2026, so it will proceed with this approach.

To help NHS England understand the impact of these changes, it plans to publish a survey in March 2026 with test files. This will let you review the phase 3 and phase 4 changes and provide feedback.

For more information, see NHS England's updating the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model page.

To discuss this work further, email nhsdigital.ukmeds@nhs.net.

Aligning the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model with SNOMED International

Further to the news posted on Delen regarding the planned phase 2 changes to the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension, NHS England will go live with the phase 2 changes in release 41.5.0, due 18 February 2026.

NHS England will release a user survey and accompanying test files for the phase 3 (AMP) and phase 4 (AMPP) changes to understand user impacts. They plan to go live with the phase 3 and phase 4 changes together in a joint release.

If you anticipate any issues with this approach, contact them by 15 January 2026: nhsdigital.ukmeds@nhs.net

For further information about this work, see NHS England's updating the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model page.

Duplicate map entries in SNOMED CT to ICD-10 mapping file 41.2.0

NHS England has identified an issue in the SNOMED CT to ICD-10 mapping file included in the SNOMED CT UK Edition 41.2.0 release. The file der2_iisssciRefset_ExtendedMapUKCLFull_GB1000000.txt contains duplicate map entries.

A corrected SNOMED CT to ICD-10 mapping file will be released on 24 December 2025 as part of the 41.3.0 release.

For questions or support, contact: support.digitalservices@nhs.net

Increasing SNOMED International description length limits

SNOMED International has confirmed the planned change to increase the maximum length of Fully Specified Name (FSN) and Synonym descriptions from 255 characters to 4,096 characters.

This change will be implemented in the 1 July 2026 International Edition release and will come into effect in the October 2026 UK Edition release.

See the news article on Delen for more information.

NHS England is seeking views from SNOMED CT users in the UK through a survey to help identify if additional information or support may be needed to prepare for the change, and to understand the most effective ways to communicate and share that information.

Your feedback will help NHS England decide whether further guidance or engagement is required to support users beyond that which SNOMED International is providing.

Please complete the survey by 5pm on Wednesday 10 December 2025.

If you have any issues completing the survey, contact: information.standards@nhs.net

Aligning the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model with SNOMED International

Following the phase 1 changes implemented in October 2025, NHS England is now progressing with the phase 2 changes.

The NHS England web page on aligning dm+d VMPP class medicinal products to the SNOMED International drug model has been updated with information about the changes, including examples and diagrams to help explain them.

Test files with the phase 2 changes to the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension are available on Delen.

The changes are planned to be implemented in the first quarter of 2026.

In preparation, NHS England is asking SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension users to complete a survey so they can understand the effect the changes may have. Your feedback will help NHS England work with you to implement these changes.

Please submit your survey response by 5pm Friday 28 November 2025.

If you have any issues completing the survey or would like to discuss this work further, contact: nhsdigital.ukmeds@nhs.net

Increasing SNOMED International description length limits

Following the Delen news article on the proposal to increase description length limits, SNOMED International has published a briefing note, available on Delen:

MF Briefing Note - Conclusion on Increasing Description Type length limits

A blog post with further information is also available on the SNOMED International website:

Blog: SNOMED International concludes community feedback period on proposed description character limit increase and finalizes next steps

As SNOMED International has outlined, the change to the description length limits will be implemented in the 1 July 2026 International Edition release. It will take effect in the October 2026 SNOMED CT UK release.

If you have any questions or concerns, email information.standards@nhs.net.

Aligning the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension model with SNOMED International

Further to the news on Delen regarding changes to the SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension, NHS England will go live with the phase 1 changes in release 41.0.0, due for publication on 1 October 2025.

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

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.

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.

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.