The Grouper can be downloaded from the following site:

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/services/the-casemix-service/using-this-service/reference/downloads/payment/hrg4-2010-11-local-payment-grouper

The Grouper should be used in conjunction with the Guide to File Preparation, which explains how data should be sorted and presented for processing by the Grouper. This, and the User Manual, can be downloaded from the NHS Information Centre’s website at the following address:

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/services/the-casemix-service/using-this-service/reference/downloads/payment/hrg4-2010-11-local-payment-grouper-documentation

Please note that the remaining documentation will follow shortly and will also be published on this website.

The HRG4 2010/11 Local Payment Grouper continues to support the latest table of coding equivalence (TOCE), which maps the OPCS-4.5 codes introduced from April 2009 to their equivalent codes in OPCS-4.4, on which the HRG4 2010/11 Local Payment design is based.

As with previous releases, the local Grouper does not apply PbR business rules, including provider eligibility for Specialised Service Code derivation. Activities relating to Treatment Function Code or other pre-processing exclusions should therefore be removed from the input data prior to running through the local Grouper. As HRG exclusions are at spell level, and the HRG4 Grouper produces both episode and spell-level HRGs during the same run, HRG exclusions should be made at spell level following grouping. There is no requirement to group data twice. Those organisations that choose not to remove exclusion data may generate HRGs for data that are excluded from national tariff under PbR funding policy.

There is no concept of 'spell specialty' in HRG4. PbR have confirmed that they do not require a spell to be allocated to a specialty at this stage. The HRG4 local Groupers will continue to output main specialties and treatment function codes at an episode level, as they are mandatory input fields for admitted patient care grouping. 

However, it is recognised that for various purposes, including service line reporting, financial management and benchmarking, a main specialty/treatment function code may be required at spell level. There are various different methodologies that can be applied to multi-episode spells to determine a main specialty/treatment function code at spell level and organisations have the flexibility to determine the methodology most appropriate for their local and individual circumstances.

Further information on PbR can be found at the following website:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/pbr

For queries about PbR please contact the PbR team at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For queries about HRG4 or the Grouper, please call the Information Centre’s Contact Centre on: 0845 300 6016 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Please note:

·               Data for local reimbursement calculations for the 2009/10 financial year are still to be processed using HRG4 2009/10 Local Payment Grouper

·               Under HRG4 there is no requirement for a separate spell converter, as this functionality is accommodated within the grouper software itself

·               Although appropriate output files are produced, there is no reporting feature in any of the Payment suite of HRG4 groupers