Technical requirements and standards
Published on: 10th September 2014 | Updated on: 10th September 2022
Community pharmacy and prescribing IT systems must meet a range of NHS technical requirements and standards. These help systems work safely, securely and consistently across health and care settings.
Many standards support interoperability, allowing information to flow between pharmacies, GP practices, hospitals, NHS services and patients. IT system suppliers can also develop additional features beyond the minimum requirements to improve usability, efficiency and patient care.
Community Pharmacy England and the Community Pharmacy IT Group (CP ITG) support the development of connected digital systems that help pharmacy teams provide safe, efficient and person-centred care. This includes alignment with NHS standards, APIs, data-sharing requirements and interoperability frameworks.
This page highlights some of the key standards, specifications and technical requirements relevant to pharmacy owners and IT system suppliers.
See also: Overview about standards and interoperability
A-Z
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow different systems to exchange information and work together.
NHS organisations may commission APIs and related technical specifications to support interoperability across health and care services. These APIs provide IT system suppliers with a standard way to connect systems and exchange information securely.
See the Apps webpage, including:
- App standards; and
- Developer information.
The NHS Booking and Referral Standard (BaRS) supports the electronic transfer of referral and booking information between NHS services.
BaRS is designed to improve the consistency and quality of referral information and support integrated care across different healthcare settings. It is increasingly being used across NHS services and is expected to support more pharmacy use cases over time.
Examples of potential pharmacy-related uses include referrals between NHS services and community pharmacies, and appointment booking integration.
Additional supplier information is available through NHS technical guidance.
The Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) clinical referral information standard supports the electronic sharing of referral information between healthcare professionals and organisations.
Read more on the PRSB website.
See:
These standards help ensure dosage instructions can be understood consistently by clinical systems and healthcare professionals.
The Developer and integration hub brings together technical guidance, APIs, standards and developer tools to help suppliers build and integrate healthcare software.
Resources include information relating to:
- Clinical documents and FHIR standards;
- GP Connect;
- NHS Identity;
- NHS login;
- NHS e-Referral Service;
- Electronic Prescription Service (EPS);
- Directory of Services (DoS);
- NHS scheduling and appointments;
- Spine services;
- MESH messaging;
- Digital medicines standards; and
- National data and interoperability services.
For the latest technical documentation, visit the Developer and integration hub.
Certain NHS FHIR assets may also be available from: fhir.nhs.uk and shir.hl7.org.uk
- Assets from fhir.nhs.uk: https://simplifier.net/STU3-FHIR-Assets/~resources
- Assets from fhir.hl7.org.uk: https://simplifier.net/HL7FHIRUKCoreR4/~resources
Assessment, Discharge and Withdrawal
Information required to build ADW Messages to support the exchange of structured information between healthcare and social care organisations.
Clinical Decision Support
Implementation guidance for the Clinical Decision Support APIs
Clinical Documents
FHIR Profiles for the exchange of clinical documents.
Clinical Documents (CDA)
CDA specifications have now been deprecated and replaced with a FHIR based specification.
Development and Testing Tooling
A set of tools for developers to assist with the testing of FHIR based specifications.
Diagnostic Data Services
Diagnostic Data Services report message
Digital Child Health
Information required to build and send the Digital Child Health event messages.
Digital Maternity
Information required to enable the exchange of Digital Maternity data.
Digital Medicines
FHIR specifications and implementation guidance.
Directory of Services
APIs provided by the Directory of Services for accessing service information
End of Life
Information required to build and send the End of Life atomic units of information.
EPS Dispensers Directory of Service
API providing information about EPS dispensing services and includes search functionality which lists dispensers who should be able to provide dispensing services for a patient with a given location and urgency.
EPS Tracker
Access to non-confidential metadata for electronic prescriptions managed through the national Electronic Prescription Service.
EPS Tracker API
Which may support future bulk-query functionality within pharmacy systems.
Events Management
Information required to publish, subscribe and receive event messages to and from the Events Management Service.
FGM
Messaging for the national Female Genital Mutilation Risk Indication System
FHIR Reference Server
This FHIR server acts as a reference server for all nationally defined FHIR profiles and value sets for use across a range of local and national FHIR implementations.
GP Connect
GP Connect aims to support better clinical care by opening up information and data held within GP Practice IT systems for use across health and social care.
Interoperability Toolkit (ITK)
The ITK is a set of common messaging specifications, frameworks and implementation guides to support interoperability within local organisations and across local health and social care communities.
Message Implementation Manuals (MiMs)
The MiM is the formal specification of the HL7v3 messaging on the Spine.
MESH API
The Message Exchange for Social care and Health (MESH) component of the Spine allows messages and files to be delivered to registered recipients. This is the HTTP API used by MESH.
NHS Identity
NHS England’s implementation of the OpenID Connect API specifications for authenticating health and care professionals.
NHS e-Referral Service
The NHS e-Referral Service has released a range of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Ecosystem resources to support third party solution integration.
National Data Opt-Out
The National Data Opt-out Programme has defined an API to capture a patient’s preferences for use of their data, which will be held in a national data store on the Spine. Initially, this API will be used by a new national portal, but in future it will be made available to other consumers to manage these preferences for a patient.
National Early Warning Score (NEWS2)
NEWS2 is the latest version of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS), this improves the detection and response to clinical deterioration in patients and is a key element of patient safety and improving patient outcomes.
National Population Failsafe Management
National Failsafe Population Management is intended assist with population tracking and population screening, for example via the National Failsafe Alert.
National Pathology
The National Pathology FHIR Messaging Specification supports the ability to share pathology results in NHS primary and secondary care settings. This release focuses on haematology and clinical biochemistry (also known as chemical pathology) test reporting.
National Record Locator
The National Record Locator aims to provide healthcare professionals and providers with a facility to identify and locate ‘local’ patient records which have been registered on the service
NHS Website APIs
API developer portal for NHS Choices APIs.
NHS Scheduling (and appointments)
Profiles to allow searching for free slots and booking appointments.
Organisation Data
The data provided via this API is taken from the data managed by the Organisation Data Service (ODS) within NHS England.
Spine Core FHIR Framework
The Spine Core FHIR API Framework provides common behaviours and services used across FHIR APIs delivered on Spine. This specification also covers other Spine services that complement or are used alongside Spine FHIR APIs.
Spine Mini Services
Spine Mini Services
Transfer of Care
Information required to build Transfer of Care Documents for several areas of care.
For up-to-date Developer and integration hub info read more at https://digital.nhs.uk/developer.
Further information within the “DSIC technical standards” of our DSIC webpage.
The NHS Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) provides a baseline standard for digital health technologies.
DTAC covers:
- Clinical safety;
- Data protection;
- Cyber security;
- Interoperability; and
- Accessibility.
Many NHS digital services and procurement processes require suppliers to demonstrate DTAC compliance.
See the Apps webpage for further information.
See CPCF section.
The NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices (dm+d) is the NHS standard medicines terminology.
Systems that exchange medicines information relating to patient care should use dm+d identifiers and descriptions to support consistent and accurate data sharing.
The NHS Directory of Services (DoS) contains information about NHS and healthcare services across England.
This includes information such as:
- Opening times;
- Services provided; and
- Service availability.
DoS APIs allow authorised systems to access and use this information.
Read more:
NHS England publishes technical specifications that support the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS). These help system developers, pharmacy teams and other stakeholders understand how EPS works and how systems should interact with it.
Available specifications include:
- All current and archived EPS specifications;
• Dispensing system specification;
• Dispensing token specification (currently focused on paper tokens);
• Prescribing system specification; and
• Prescribing token specification (currently focused on paper tokens).
Read more: All EPS specifications.
EPS endorsing guide
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) maintains the EPS endorsing guide, which explains the endorsement requirements used for prescription reimbursement and pricing.
Resources include:
- NHSBSA EPS endorsing guide webpage; and
• NHSBSA EPS endorsing guide PDF document.
NHSBSA engages with stakeholders before making significant changes to the endorsing guide. IT system suppliers are encouraged to align their systems with the latest guidance.
See also: EPS endorsing and submission.
EPS Tracker and related requirements
Systems can integrate with EPS Tracker and other EPS application programming interfaces (APIs).
Useful resources include:
- EPS identifiers guidance, including information about identifiers used in EPS HL7 messages.
Future digital token standards
Community Pharmacy IT Group (CP ITG) has identified digital and paperless prescription processing as a priority area for future development.
Its vision includes:
- Electronic or digital tokens that support paperless prescribing and dispensing workflows;
• Updated token standards aligned with future EPS developments; and
• Consistent guidance and technical standards for suppliers.
Some GP and patient-facing applications already display prescription identifiers or barcode information. However, pharmacy teams should note that the current token specifications are primarily designed around paper token requirements.
Read more:
The Everyday Interactions framework describes how brief conversations can improve public health outcomes and how these interactions can be recorded and measured.
The pathway templates cover topics including:
- Obesity;
• Alcohol;
• Dementia; and
• Smoking.
These resources may be useful for pharmacy owners and IT system suppliers looking to build or improve activity recording tools.
See: Everyday Interactions.
FHIR is an international standard used to exchange healthcare information between systems.
FHIR supports interoperability and is used across many NHS digital services to help systems securely share information.
See: FHIR standard.
GP2GP enables a patient’s electronic health record to move securely and quickly between GP practices when they register with a new practice.
See: GP2GP service.
GP Connect is an NHS-managed service that allows authorised healthcare professionals and systems to securely access and exchange selected GP practice information.
GP Connect supports:
- Access to relevant clinical information;
• Appointment information sharing; and
• Interoperability between different clinical systems.
This can help improve collaboration between community pharmacy, general practice and other healthcare settings.
Read more:
Electronic notifications can help pharmacy systems share information directly with GP practice systems, improving patient care and reducing administrative workload.
The Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB), NHS England, Community Pharmacy England and others have developed standards to support this information exchange.
Standards have been developed for services including:
- Pharmacy vaccinations;
• Emergency supply of medicines;
• New Medicine Service (NMS);
• Medication reviews;
• Minor illness referrals; and
• Appliance Use Reviews.
Read more:
Electronic notifications can also be sent from GP practice systems to pharmacy systems.
See: Notifications from GP practice systems to pharmacy systems.
See also: Pharmacy First Service.
CP ITG supports the development of pharmacy systems that can be used securely on mobile and hand-held devices.
This includes access to NHS services and systems such as:
- Electronic Prescription Service (EPS);
• Summary Care Record (SCR); and
• Other clinical systems.
The aim is to reduce reliance on paper processes and support more flexible ways of working.
See also: NHS identity.
HL7 develops standards that support the exchange, integration and sharing of electronic health information.
Many healthcare messaging standards are based on HL7 technologies.
See: HL7 UK.
IM1 supports integration with NHS patient-facing services and GP practice systems.
It enables approved suppliers to:
- Access information from GP systems; and
• Exchange information with GP systems.
See: IM1.
The Interoperability Toolkit (ITK) provides specifications, frameworks and implementation guidance to support information sharing across health and care systems.
CP ITG has highlighted the importance of pharmacy systems supporting interoperability requirements.
Read more:
Shared Care Records enable health and care professionals to access relevant patient information across organisational boundaries.
Community Pharmacy England and CP ITG have highlighted the importance of consistent integration standards so that suppliers can connect to multiple record systems more easily.
Read more:
Some NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) services provide APIs that can support integration between pharmacy systems and NHS systems.
See:
- Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) MYS API.
This information standard supports the consistent transfer of medicines and allergy or intolerance information between care settings.
The standard helps improve interoperability, patient safety and continuity of care.
Read more: Medicine and allergy or intolerance data transfer.
Many pharmacy systems and digital services can integrate with the NHS App.
The NHS App is expected to play an increasingly important role in helping people access NHS services, manage medicines and interact with healthcare providers.
Read more:
NHS Identity provides authentication services for health and care professionals accessing national clinical systems.
It supports secure access to services including the Summary Care Record.
IT system suppliers may wish to consider future integration opportunities.
Read more:
NHS login provides a secure way for people to access NHS digital services and information.
It supports NHS national programmes and local digital health initiatives.
Read more:
CP ITG has identified improved integration with nhs.net services as a priority for pharmacy systems.
nhs.net services may support:
- Secure communication with NHS organisations; and
• Patient messaging and communication workflows.
Read more:
Some pharmacy systems can use nhs.net application accounts to send automated SMS messages to patients.
Examples include:
- Medicines being prepared;
• Ready for collection notifications; and
• Delivery notifications.
See the nhs.net webpage for more information.
The NHS number is the unique patient identifier used across the NHS.
It consists of 10 digits, for example: 123 456 7890.
See: NHS number.
See: Patient Facing Services.
When a pharmacy owner changes IT systems, it is important that key patient information transfers safely and consistently.
Working with a CP ITG subgroup, Community Pharmacy England helped develop a recommended transfer specification and minimum dataset.
Resources:
Pharmacy teams are encouraged to share feedback with both Community Pharmacy England and their IT system supplier.
CP ITG has published a wish list based on pharmacy team feedback and discussions across the sector. It highlights opportunities for improving pharmacy systems and supporting future service development.
See:
The ODS code is a pharmacy’s unique identifying code.
It appears on NHS Business Services Authority payment schedules.
See: ODS code.
Real Time Exemption Checking (RTEC) enables pharmacy systems to check whether a patient has a known NHS prescription charge exemption.
Where an exemption is confirmed, the exemption status can be applied automatically, reducing administrative burden for pharmacy teams and patients.
Read more:
NHS scheduling APIs support appointment booking and scheduling services.
Related standards are available through Developer and integration hub resources.
See also: GP Connect.
SNOMED CT is a clinical terminology system used throughout the NHS.
It provides a common language that supports:
- Accurate clinical recording;
• Information sharing;
• Interoperability; and
• Clinical decision support.
In England, GP systems use SNOMED CT to record clinical information.
Read more:
System suppliers can integrate Summary Care Record (SCR) functionality directly into their systems to provide faster access to authorised information.
Read more:
Potential update for review: Check whether newer access methods, shared record solutions or Single Patient Record developments should also be referenced.
The Warranted Environment Specification (WES) sets technical requirements for NHS-connected systems, including supported operating systems, browser versions and configuration settings.
Read more: cpe.org.uk/settings.
Useful resources:
- Developer and integration hub;
- NHS England contact information;
- NHS England website; and
- Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB).
Related Community Pharmacy England webpages:
- IT system suppliers;
- Pharmacy-related systems and apps;
- Pharmacy system feature requests and development;
- Report or provide feedback about pharmacy IT; and
- List of IT system suppliers and contact details.
Disclaimer: NHS digital standards and technical requirements continue to evolve. This webpage provides an overview but is not a comprehensive source of all requirements. The latest information may be available from NHS England, NHS developer services or other official sources.
If you have questions about this webpage, would like to suggest future specification changes, or wish to share views about pharmacy IT developments, please email da@cpe.org.uk.
For more information on this topic please email it@cpe.org.uk
