Clinical Coding Standards Refresher Course

This Clinical Coding Standards Refresher Course (CCSRC) is a 3-day programme designed to refresh coding skills and knowledge or introduce new and updated Coding standards.

The CCSRC is open to all staff already employed as a clinical coder in an NHS Trust (including a Mental Health Trust), or an independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) which treats, and codes consultant episodes, for NHS patients. The CCSRC is also available to those working as contractors within the clinical coding profession but who are not actively employed as a contract clinical coder at the time of attendance on a CCSRC, i.e. they are in between contracts.

Clinical coders must attend a CCSRC once every 3 years from their successful completion of a Clinical Coding Standards Course.

1. Reinforcement of the four step coding process. Using each step of the Four Step Coding Process to correctly assign ICD-10 and OPCS-4 codes.

• Applying national clinical coding standards.

2. Completing a General Coding Exercises workbook either prior to or during the course, as determined by the course trainer.

• Completing short coding scenarios and more detailed case studies to correctly assign ICD-10 and OPCS-4 codes.
• Completing other individual and group activities to reinforce the practical and theoretical aspects of national clinical coding standards for ICD-10 and OPCS-4.
• Using all available reference products to support accurate code assignment.

3. Maintaining data extraction skills

•  Selecting all relevant conditions, circumstances, and interventions to be coded in realistic case studies by following general coding standards.

4. Monitoring and assessment

• Completing practical and theoretical knowledge checks throughout the course to monitor personal progress.
• Identifying areas for further development where necessary.

5. Time management

• Completing individual exercises, assessments, development plans (where required), and group activities to required deadlines.

This practical assessment-based course is fundamental to the continued professional development of all experienced clinical coders.

The course will ensure you are keeping your practical coding skills and theoretical knowledge up-to-date for the ICD-10 and OPCS-4 clinical classifications and associated updates. The course also provides experienced clinical coders with the opportunity to reinforce the four-step coding process to ensure correct application of ICD-10 and OPCS-4 national clinical coding standards to facilitate accurate coded clinical data.

This course is delivered across three days via MS Teams by our approved trainers. 

The following pre-requisites are set by NHS England. The trainee must:

• Have been employed as a clinical coder for 2-3 years before attending.
• Have attended a CCSRC within the previous three years (where applicable, accepting that there will be extenuating circumstances on occasions that prevent this timeframe being achieved).
• Have completed the four Step Coding Process ICD-10 eLearning mandatory eLearning course prior to attendance.
• Have completed and returned the pre-course questionnaire prior to the course start date to allow for adequate trainer preparation.

In addition, the trainee must:

• Have a personal commitment to continued professional development including completion of assessment-based learning in a variety of formats.
• Have a structured training plan in place agreed with their line manager detailing the time and resources available to complete all mandatory elements before, during and after the course, as necessary