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Personal Demographics Service - SMSP API

Overview

Use this API to access the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) - the national electronic database of NHS patient details such as name, address, date of birth, related people, registered GP and NHS number.

You can:

verify a patient's NHS number

retrieve a patient's details

search for patient details

You cannot use this API to:

update patient details

create a new record for a birth

receive birth notifications 

create a new record for a new patient

register a new patient at a GP Practice - use National Health Application and Infrastructure Services (NHAIS) instead

This API:

does not require the end user to be strongly authenticated with a smartcard

only returns a result from a search if there is a single, unique match - it does not return multiple matches

Spine Mini Service Provider (SMSP) options

There are also commercially available products which give easier access to PDS, known as Spine Mini Service Providers (SMSPs).

These and other conforming software products are listed in our Conformance Catalogue.

If you are interested in becoming a provider of one of these products, see Personal Demographics Service - SMSP API standards.

Documentation

Personal Demographics Service - SMSP API documentation

Endpoint

https://digital.nhs.uk/developer/api-catalogue/personal-demographics-service-smsp

Contact

https://digital.nhs.uk/developer/help-and-support