Spine (NHS IT)
Published on: 20th July 2015 | Updated on: 12th August 2026
The NHS Spine is the national digital platform that supports many core NHS services. It allows information to be shared securely between community pharmacies, GP practices, hospitals and other NHS organisations.
For pharmacy teams, the Spine enables key services such as the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), the Summary Care Record and patient demographic checks. It is a critical part of the NHS digital infrastructure that supports the safe delivery of pharmacy services.
The Spine is the national NHS digital platform that connects healthcare systems across England.
It supports the secure exchange of information between pharmacy teams, GP practice staff, hospitals, patients and other NHS services.
The Spine plays an important role in supporting projects not limited to:
- Electronic Prescription Service (EPS);
- NHS Care Identity Service and authentication services;
- Summary Care Record access;
- Personal Demographics Service (PDS);
- Reasonable Adjustment Flag (RAF) information; and
- Other national NHS digital services that help healthcare teams access and share information safely.
The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) uses the NHS Spine to securely transfer prescription information between prescribing and dispensing systems.
When a prescriber creates and digitally signs an electronic prescription, it is transmitted through NHS systems linked to the Spine. Patient demographic information, including NHS number details and nomination information, helps ensure prescriptions reach the correct pharmacy.
Pharmacy teams can retrieve electronic prescriptions through their IT systems. Once dispensing is completed, dispensing and claim information is sent electronically, enabling NHS processing and reimbursement activities.
This national infrastructure helps support the end-to-end electronic prescribing process across England.
For information about the different parts of the EPS process and where issues can occur, see our Failure points guidance.
For information about active NHS IT issues and service notifications, see our NHS IT service alerts page.
Pharmacy teams can also check the latest national service information through NHS digital service status channels where available.
The NHS Spine continues to evolve to support new digital services and improve the sharing of health information across care settings.
NHS digital strategies highlight the growing importance of:
- Better interoperability between healthcare systems;
- Improved medicines information sharing across care settings;
- Development of the Single Patient Record (SPR);
- Enhanced digital services through the NHS App; and
- Further improvements to electronic prescribing and medicines management.
Examples of existing and ongoing Spine-supported functionality include:
- Prescription tracking tools for authorised users;
- Secure transmission of prescribing, dispensing and claims information;
- Patient demographic and identity services; and
- Support for national NHS digital programmes and services.
As NHS digital services continue to develop, pharmacy teams are expected to benefit from greater integration between national and local healthcare systems, helping to reduce duplication of data entry and improve the flow of information across the NHS.
Most pharmacy owner queries relating to EPS or Spine-connected services should be raised through the usual EPS support route:
Read our EPS reporting guidance:
https://cpe.org.uk/reporteps
Your IT system supplier should normally be your first point of contact for system-specific issues.
The NHS National Service Desk may also be able to provide support for national NHS digital services. Information about available support can be found on NHS England’s digital services webpages.
For more information on this topic please email it@cpe.org.uk
