National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS)

Core Data Set

The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) relates to the process of collecting, collating and analysing information from and for those involved in the drug treatment sector. The NDTMS is a development of the Regional Drug Misuse Databases (RDMDs), which have been in place since the late 1980s.

All drug treatment agencies must provide a basic level of information to the NDTMS on their activities each month - known as the core data set. The NTA have produced a number of documents that provide technical guidance for managers of treatment services on what core data items must be provided, plus guidance for IT managers on how to develop systems to manage this process.

Alcohol

In January 2008, it was announced that from 1 April 2008 all alcohol treatment agencies will be asked to submit data to NDTMS on clients receiving specialist treatment for alcohol misuse. This will not include Tier 2 and unstructured alcohol treatment, or treatment in other parts of the NHS for secondary complications arising out of the misuse of alcohol (e.g. treatment for liver disease). Data will be collected from General Practice where specialist care is provided under enhanced contracts to address alcohol misuse.

Core Data Set 'G' Consultation

The existing codes on the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), and their definitions, reflect the description of the types of treatment that were published in Models of Care for Treatment of Adult Drug Misusers: Update 2006 (NTA, 2006a). However, since then, there have been a number of new publications that impact on the terminology, understanding and definition of structured drug treatment interventions.

The NTA are asking stakeholders to review the proposals and provide feedback. The consultation will last for 12 weeks and will close on 23 October 2009. However, the NTA are keen to give providers of NDTMS software as much notice as possible of any changes and so early responses would be appreciated.

The documents are available below:

Core Data Set Documents From July 2008 From April 2009
NDTMS Core Data Set - Business Definition for adult services Version 5.2 Version 6.1.1
NDTMS Core Data Set - Business Definition for Adult Alcohol Treatment Providers Version 5.0 Version 6.1.1
NDTMS Core Data Set - Guidance for Adult Alcohol Treatment Providers Version 5.0 Version 6.0.0
NDTMS Core Data Set – Business Definition for Young People's Treatment Providers Version 5.3 Version 6.1.4
NDTMS Core Data Set - Young Persons Services Guidance Version 5.3 Version 6.1.3
NDTMS Core Data Set - Reference Data Version 5.3.6 Version 6.2.2
NDTMS Core Data Set - Technical Definition Version 5.3 Version 6.1.1
NDTMS CSV Input File Format Version 5.3.0 Version 6.0.0
NDTMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Version 2.0  
NDTMS New Discharge Codes Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)   Version 1.0
NDTMS Geographic Information Version 5.3.0  
NDTMS TOP Functionality   Version 6.0.1
DTMU Guidance Documentation  
A Rough Guide to NDTMS Version 4.0
A Guide to NDTMS Data Collection 2007 Version 1.0
Core Data Set 'F' Training - DTMU Presentation Version 1.1
Data Quality Strategy 2009/10 Version 2.0

If you have any technical queries regarding NDTMS, or phone 01865 334730.