On 1 July 2026, every software supplier on the NHS Assured Solutions List must meet the Minimum Operational Data Standard (MODS). If your supplier does not certify in time, they lose their assured status, and you are left running a non-assured system. This guide explains what MODS is, what data it covers, which suppliers have already certified, and what you should be doing now.
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MODS stands for Minimum Operational Data Standard. Its formal reference is DAPB4102, and it was published on 1 April 2025 by the Digitising Social Care (DiSC) programme, commissioned jointly by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England.
The standard took four years to develop, with input from across the adult social care sector. Its purpose is straightforward: to define a baseline set of data that every Digital Social Care Record (DSCR) system must collect in a consistent way. Without that consistency, information cannot flow reliably between care homes, GPs, hospitals, and local authorities. MODS creates the shared language that makes interoperability possible.
MODS applies to all CQC-registered adult social care providers using an assured DSCR. That includes care homes, supported living services, home care providers, and any other CQC-regulated service. If you use a system from the NHS Assured Solutions List, MODS directly affects you.
The full MODS specification is published on the DiSC Data Catalogue (dataset reference 86081). It defines a set of data items, definitions, and associated value sets across nine core categories:
Behind these categories sits a supporting glossary of 405 key terms. MetadataWorks, who contributed to the standard's development, analysed 24 existing standards, documented 381 glossary definitions, reviewed 24,919 data concepts, and established 42,489 mappings to arrive at the final specification. This is not a lightweight checklist. It is a comprehensive data architecture designed to make social care records interoperable with NHS systems.
The deadline is 1 July 2026. By that date, every DSCR supplier on the NHS Assured Solutions List must demonstrate MODS compliance through the official MODS assurance tool (available via the NHS Confluence space).
For care providers, the implications are serious. If your software supplier loses assured status:
It is worth being clear about what the deadline is and is not. MODS compliance is a supplier-side obligation, not a direct statutory requirement on care providers themselves. The deadline is contractual, tied to the terms of the Assured Solutions List. But for providers, the practical effect is the same: if your supplier does not comply, your system's status changes, and you carry the operational consequences. For a broader view of the care home software regulations in the UK, see our dedicated guide.
As of May 2026, one supplier has publicly confirmed MODS certification:
The following major suppliers are on the Assured Solutions List and must certify by 1 July 2026. None had publicly confirmed certification at the time of writing, though some may have certified without making a public announcement:
The official verification mechanism is the MODS assurance tool on NHS Confluence and the Assured Solutions List maintained by the DiSC programme. If you want to check your supplier's status, start at the Assured Solutions List or contact the DSCR enquiries team at england.dscr.enquiries@nhs.net.
MODS does not change CQC inspection criteria directly. CQC inspectors do not check whether your software is MODS-compliant. But MODS underpins the evidence framework that CQC will increasingly expect to see.
The CQC Single Assessment Framework (SAF), with full implementation targeted for Q4 2026, explicitly includes digital capability and data governance under the Well-Led key line of enquiry. Inspectors are looking for evidence that care is being planned and delivered systematically, with records that are accurate, up to date, and accessible. A MODS-compliant system supports this by ensuring care plans, medication records, risk assessments, and observations are all recorded in a structured, consistent format. For a full breakdown of what inspectors look for in digital records, see our guide to CQC digital records requirements for care homes.
CQC has also set a target of 9,000 assessments published by September 2026. That means a higher probability of inspection than in recent years. Inspectors expect real-time, systematically recorded evidence, not retrospectively completed records. Using a MODS-compliant system means your data is structured in the way inspectors expect to find it.
MODS does not exist in isolation. It is one piece of a wider compliance framework that care homes must navigate. Understanding how the pieces connect is important.
The Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) is a separate but related requirement. Completing DSPT to "Standards Met" is mandatory for CQC-registered providers, now legislatively required under the Health and Care Act 2022 and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. DSPT is your obligation as a provider. It covers data governance, cyber security, and information assurance within your organisation. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see our full guide to DSPT compliance for care homes.
MODS is your software supplier's obligation. It ensures the system you use records data in a standardised way. Both are needed for the framework to work. DSPT without MODS means you have good data governance but your system cannot share information consistently. MODS without DSPT means your system is interoperable but your organisation has not met its own security obligations.
The Data (Use and Access) Act became law on 19 June 2025. It amends Section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and makes three things clear that matter for care homes:
The Act's provisions are being commenced in phases (Commencement No. 6 Regulations 2026 have already been made). The practical implication is that MODS compliance, currently a contractual requirement for assured suppliers, is on a trajectory toward becoming a statutory obligation. Providers who treat MODS as optional are betting against the direction of travel.
MODS is not an end in itself. It is a building block toward the NHS Single Patient Record vision, where a patient's medical and care history flows securely between all health and social care providers.
The Single Patient Record is currently in a "test and learn" phase. From 2028, patients should be able to view it on the NHS App. For that to work, social care data needs to be structured in a way that integrates with NHS systems, aligning with the NHS Data Dictionary and FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standards.
For care home managers, the long-term implication is that your resident records will eventually be part of a wider connected record. A GP will be able to see relevant care home observations. A hospital discharge team will be able to view the care plan before a resident returns. This is not theoretical: it is the stated policy direction, now backed by legislation. MODS ensures your data is ready for that future.
If your care home uses (or is considering) a bespoke system built specifically for your operation, MODS creates both a challenge and an opportunity.
The challenge is that any bespoke system handling digital social care records needs to align with the MODS data structure. The nine data categories, the 405 glossary terms, and the associated value sets define what fields the system must support and how data must be formatted. This is a non-trivial technical requirement that must be designed in from the start, not bolted on afterward.
The opportunity is that a bespoke system can be built around MODS compliance from day one, without carrying the legacy architecture or workaround layers that some off-the-shelf suppliers are now retrofitting. A bespoke build can implement the MODS data model natively, structure workflows to capture data in the right format as part of normal care delivery, and integrate directly with NHS interoperability standards (including FHIR) without relying on a third-party middleware layer.
The key consideration is whether the system needs to appear on the Assured Solutions List. If you are building for a single care home group and not selling the software commercially, the assured status process may not apply directly. But aligning with MODS data standards is still advisable, both for CQC evidence requirements and for future-proofing against the statutory direction of the Data (Use and Access) Act.
The deadline is two months away. Here is a practical checklist:
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