Digital Child Health Service - Events Catalogue

FHIR Event Messaging Architecture

Digital Child Health

This section provides Digital Child Health implementers with the information required to build and send the Digital Child Health events.

Message Patterns and Message Structure

Digital Child Health is based on a Publish and Subscribe messaging pattern. Events are created by care providers who have provided the front line care. The events are published to a national child health hub. The national hub manages subscriptions to the published events.

Events are created by care providers who have provided the front line care. The events are published to a national child health hub. The national hub manages subscriptions to the published events.

Digital Child Health event message definitions are based on the HL7 FHIR DSTU2 1.0.1 Messaging Implementation (Oct 2015) standard.

Events

The event originator will construct an event message, as outlined in this Domain Message Specification. Events will be sent over the NHS Message Exchange for Social Care and Health (MESH) to the child health hub. MESH will be used to ensure that the event message reaches the child health hub. Error processing, for example an undeliverable message, is the responsibility of the sending system. The processing of events within and beyond the child health hub is the subject of related Digital Child Health documentation.

For further information relating to MESH see the MESH pages on the NHS Digital web site

Events Diagram

The diagram shows the Digital Child Health events (documented in the Events Catalogue) being published to the child health hub. The hub manages subscriptions to these publications (in accordance with the Hub Registration Authority):


DCHEvents


FHIR Event Messaging

The FHIR event message is made up of the resources. These resources are bundled within an FHIR Bundle wrapper to create the FHIR structure.

In FHIR messaging, a "message" is sent from a source application to a destination application when an event happens.

The event message consists of a Bundle identified by the type "message", with the first resource in the bundle being a MessageHeader. The MessageHeader resource has an event code that identifies the type of event being published. It also carries additional metadata.

Each event will carry a standard set of data to act as an event "header" (to help identify the patient, publisher, and actual event). This standard header consists of the following mandatory items and their corresponding FHIR resource element:

Event Metadata Item FHIR element
patient identification data: CareConnect-DCH-Patient-1
NHS Number CareConnect-DCH-Patient-1.identifier
Date of Birth CareConnect-DCH-Patient-1.birthDate
name CareConnect-DCH-Patient-1.name
event type DCH-MessageHeader-1.event
type of service originating the event DCH-HealthcareService-1.serviceType.type
service provider originating the event CareConnect-DCH-Encounter-1.serviceProvider
IT system holding the event data DCH-MessageHeader-1.source
location at which the event occurred CareConnect-DCH-Encounter-1.location
event date time CareConnect-DCH-Encounter-1.period.start
event publisher DCH-MessageHeader-1.responsible
event published date DCH-MessageHeader-1.timestamp
a publication reference number DCH-MessageHeader-1 logical id

The other resources in the bundle depend on the event type.

Digital Child Health Data Item requirement notation

Each child health event message will detail the information requirements applicable to each Digital Child Health data item, these are described as:

Mandatory: should always be included in the electronic communication. Where there is no information then the message will contain appropriate coded text to identify this.
Required: where information should be recorded (and communicated) if available.
Optional: where local decisions can be made about whether or not to communicate the information

Further Information

For more information about FHIR messaging please visit: HL7 FHIR DSTU2 1.0.1 Messaging Implementation