Standards and interoperability (IT)
Published on: 18th January 2017 | Updated on: 26th June 2026
Standards help different people, systems and devices work together safely and efficiently across health and care.
In practice, this means:
- Information can move more easily between systems;
- Pharmacy teams spend less time re‑entering data;
- Patients do not need to repeat the same information; and
- Records are more complete, helping improve care and analysis.
Interoperability means that systems can work together using shared standards. When this works well, information flows securely between services, supporting better patient care.
Standards used in pharmacy IT are developed by a range of organisations. NHS Digital and the Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) play key roles, working with pharmacy teams, patients and other stakeholders.
Community Pharmacy England also maintains a list of standards and requirements to support the sector.
When standards are working well, you should not notice them in day-to-day practice. They quietly support systems to work together in the background.
Many systems use shared clinical codes. For example:
- GP practice systems use global coding systems such as SNOMED CT;
- Pharmacy systems also use SNOMED CT in part;
- The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) uses the Dictionary of medicines and devices (dm+d).
Examples of standards in practice:
- Railway tracks
Standard track sizes introduced in 1845 meant trains could run across the country. In the same way, IT standards allow systems to “connect” and share information. - Electronic Prescription Service (EPS)
Standards allow a GP to send a prescription electronically via the NHS Spine. Pharmacy systems can then receive and process it safely. - Flu vaccination notifications
When a pharmacy provides a flu vaccination, the system can automatically send a secure notification to the patient’s GP practice.
These include the below listed alphabetically.
| Organisation(s) / standards | Type | Area | Further info |
| FHIR Foundation | Organisation | England | Promotes global adoption and implementation of the FHIR® platform standard. |
| HL7 UK | Organisation | England/UK/Global | Dedicated to providing a framework and related standards for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information. |
| Information Sharing Gateway (commercial) | Info sharing /consent model system | England | Organisations can sign-up to co-sharing agreements. Aims to ease the administration and risk assessment of information sharing agreements in the public sector. It has been designed to support Information Governance (IG) reporting / flows. |
| Interoperability Handbook (NHS) | Guide | England | Explains the interoperability options you can take and how to procure using interoperability tools and standards. Provides a framework for: (1) Business Justification for investment in contributing towards integrated EHRs; (2) IG templates and guidance; (3) cliniciand and patient engagement; and (4) Open interface. |
| medConfidential | Organisation | England | Campaigns for confidentiality and consent in health and social care – seeking to ensure that every flow of data into, across and out of the NHS and care system is consensual, safe and transparent. |
| NHS IT (various) | Organisation | England | Supports use of digital across the NHS. |
| Notifications from GP practice systems to pharmacy systems | Standards | Future |
Notifications may in future more frequently be passed from GP to pharmacy systems. Read more at: Notifications from GP practice systems to pharmacy systems |
| openEHR | Organisation | England | This not-for-profit company has a vision of life-long interoperable electronic health records (EHRs); and computing on EHRs to improve the quality of health care and research. Its mission is to promote and support implementation. |
| Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) | Organisation | England | Works with the public and healthcare professionals to define the standards needed for good care records. |
Technical standards, specifications and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) help IT system suppliers build systems that work together.
These tools support:
- Secure data sharing;
- Reduced duplication of work; and
- Better integration across health services.
Read more:
- E-learning Health Informatics (NHS Digital)
We encourage pharmacy teams and owners to help shape future standards.
If you would like to share feedback or take part in discussions, please contact:
- Daniel.Ah-Thion@cpe.org.uk, Community Pharmacy England’s Community Pharmacy IT Policy Manager.
Please include ‘standards’ in the subject line.
PRSB may also run events to discuss updates, including changes to pharmacy data standards.
Read more:
For more information on this topic please email comms.team@cpe.org.uk
