Health and social care organisations in England and their suppliers should follow Government and information standards. Government standards are mandatory for the public sector. Information standards themselves are not mandatory unless required to fulfil law, Government regulation or policy (although this will change with the Health and Social Care Act 2012). For example, in order for an organisation to be paid the commissioning standards must be followed.

For further information, please see:

• Managing standards in your organisation.
• Using the standards library.
• Baselines - groups of standards used to support specific implementations.
• NHS CFH data standards.
• Clinical information standards.
• Procuring with standards.
• Standards Enforcement in Procurement (STEP).

Note that Data Dictionary changes are now managed using a different process by NHS Connecting for Health. These are notified using Data Dictionary Change Notices (DDCNs).