FAIRsharing record for: Read Codes Clinical Terms Version 3

This FAIRsharing record describes: Read Codes are a coded thesaurus of clinical terms. They have been used in the NHS since 1985. There are two versions: version 2 (v2) and version 3 (CTV3 or v3). Both versions provide a standard vocabulary for clinicians to record patient findings and procedures, in health and social care IT systems across primary and secondary care. The Read Codes were developed in 1985 by Dr. James Read. The U.K. National Health Service Centre for Coding and Classification (NHS CCC) acquired and now maintains the Read Codes. Read Codes contain hundreds of thousands of terms, synonyms, and abbreviations covering all aspects of patient care including signs and symptoms, treatments and therapies, investigations, occupations, diagnoses, and drugs and appliances. Read Codes are used by healthcare professionals in computerized information systems. Read Codes are now known as Clinical Terms. Clinical Terms Version 3 (CTV3) has been merged with the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine – Reference Terminology (SNOMED RT), resulting in the creation of SNOMED – Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT). PLEASE NOTE: the retirement of Read v2 and v3 (CTV3) clinical terminologies has been scheduled. The last release of Read v2 was April 2016, with CTV3 due to be retired after the April 2018 release. Organisations should be well underway with their preparations to ensure they can use the dictionary of medicines and devices (dm+d) for medicines and SNOMED CT for clinical content. SNOMED CT is adopted across primary care and the wider NHS.