International bodies maintain the formal terminology, classification, and coding systems used in clinical records, including the Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms and the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases.

At national level, NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the royal colleges, coding bodies, and professional societies set the terms used in guidance, patient information, pathways, and records. NHS England is not able to rename procedures across consent forms, clinical guidelines, records, and coding as changes to established clinical terms would require agreement across the national and international professional and classification bodies.