Overview of the Development section
Important: This site is under active development and is intended to provide all the technical resources you need to successfully develop with the Record Locator API. This project is being developed using an agile methodology, so iterative updates to content will be added on a regular basis.
1. NHS Aggregator API Overview
The NHS Aggregator API supports the following operations as detailed in the Solution Interactions section of this implementation guide:
| Interaction | HTTP Verb | Actor | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search | GET | Consumer | Parameterised search for pointers on the RL |
2. Prerequisites
2.1 RLS Server API Conformance:
- MUST support HL7 FHIR STU3 version 3.0.1.
- MUST implement REST behaviour according to the FHIR specification.
- MUST support both XML and JSON formats.
2.2 Client System API Conformance:
- MUST support HL7 FHIR STU3 version 3.0.1.
- MUST support at least one of XML or JSON formats.
2.3 NHS Number
NHS Numbers used with FHIR API profiles MUST be verified. NHS Numbers can be verified using a full PDS Spine-compliant system (HL7v3), a Spine Mini Services Provider (HL7v3), or a Demographics Batch Service (DBS) batch-traced record (CSV).
The option of using a DBS service is for Provider systems only. Consumers performing a search operation MUST use either a full PDS Spine compliant system or a Spine Mini Services Provider.
Note: Note: A verified NHS Number exists on PDS, is still in use, and the demographic data supplied results in the correct degree of demographic matching as per PDS matching rules.
The NHS NUMBER is 10 numeric digits in length. The tenth digit is a check digit used to confirm its validity. The check digit MUST be validated using the Modulus 11 algorithm.