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Child Protection - Information Sharing - HL7 V3 API

Overview

Use this API to access Child Protection - Information Sharing (CP-IS), the national electronic database of child protection information.

The API can be used by local authorities and unscheduled care providers as follows:

Local authorities

As a local authority, you can:

upload a patient's CP-IS information

receive a notification when the patient's CP-IS information is accessed from an unscheduled care setting

receive a notification of an inactive NHS number

Local authorities originally used a CP-IS client to transfer CP-IS data from their children’s social care systems to CP-IS via the Spine. This was replaced by the MESH client which all local authorities now use to exchange information with CP-IS - see connections 1 to 4 on the diagram.

Unscheduled care providers

As an unscheduled care provider, you can:

get a patient's CP-IS information - which automatically triggers a notification to the relevant local authority - see connections 5 and 6 on the diagram

Scheduled care providers

CP-IS is not currently available for use in scheduled care settings.

Information held in CP-IS

CP-IS holds the following information for each registered patient:

NHS number

details of their plan - type, start date and end date

details of the 25 most recent CP-IS information accesses from unscheduled care settings in England

the name of the responsible local authority - together with their office hours phone and emergency duty contact numbers

Identifying patients

All records in CP-IS are held against the patient's NHS number. It is therefore very important to ensure you use the correct NHS number for each patient.

For more details, see CP-IS NHS number matching information.

Using SCRa as an interim measure

We prefer unscheduled care providers to integrate their applications directly with CP-IS using our CP-IS APIs. However, as an interim measure, you can use our Summary Care Record application (SCRa) to access CP-IS information.

Spine Mini Service Provider (SMSP) options

There are also commercially available products which give easier access to CP-IS, 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 Child Protection - Information Sharing - SMSP API standards.

Documentation

Child Protection - Information Sharing - HL7 V3 API documentation

Endpoint

https://digital.nhs.uk/developer/api-catalogue/child-protection-information-sharing-hl7-v3

Contact

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