Search loading...

API Hub

Explore and Make use of Nationally Defined Messaging APIs

 


Quick links

Go back to previous page

Cross organisation audit and provenance

Overview of how audit and provenance data transported over GP Connect FHIR interfaces

Governance

Provider systems MUST ensure that access to confidential data, including patient or clinical data, through the API meet, as a minimum, the same requirements for information governance (IG), authentication and authorisation, and auditing as that of the host system the API exposes.

Audit trail

For implementers that don’t have access to the GPSoC Framework / ‘IG Requirements for GP Systems V4’ requirements, then the following extract of requirements covers the main audit trail requirements:

  • provider systems MUST record in an audit trail all access and data changes within the system as a result of API activity in the same way that internal access and changes are required to be recorded

  • provider systems MUST ensure that all API transactions are recorded in an audit trail, and that audit trails must be subject to the standard IG audit requirements as defined in ‘IG Requirements for GP Systems V4’ or as subsequently amended

  • provider systems MUST ensure failed or rejected API transactions are recorded with the same detail as for successful API requests, with error codes as per the error handling guidance

Audit trail records MUST include the following minimum information:

  • a record of the user identity - this is the User ID, Name, Role profile (including Role and Organisation, URP id when Smartcard authenticated) attribute values, obtained from the user’s Session structure
  • a record of the identity of the authority – the person authorising the entry of or access to data (if different from the user)
  • the date and time on which the event occurred
  • details of the nature of the audited event and the identity of the associated data (for example patient ID, message ID) of the audited event
  • a sequence number to protect against malicious attempts to subvert the audit trail by, for example, altering the system date
  • audit trail records SHOULD include details of the end-user device (or system) involved in the recorded activity

Audit trails MUST be enabled at all times and therefore MUST NOT be means for users, or any other individuals, to disable any Audit Trail.

Provenance

Provider systems MUST ensure that all additions, amendments or logical deletions to administrative and clinical data made via an API is clearly identified with information regarding the provenance of the data (such as timestamp, details of consumer system, details of user (including role)), so it is clear which information has been generated through an API rather than through the provider system itself.

Provider systems MUST record the following provenance details of all API personal and sensitive personal data recorded within the system:

  • author details (identified through unique ID), including name and role
  • data entered by (if different from author)
  • date and time (to the second) entered
  • originating organisation
  • API interaction

Provider systems MUST ensure that data provided to consumer systems only includes data for which the GP practice acts as data controller.

Patient demographic cross-checking

Consumer systems MUST always perform a patient demographic check as part of the use of a GP Connect capability to ensure that the patient for whom the information has been provided is the same patient for whom the request was made, and make clear to the end user any discrepancies.

Patient dissent

Provider systems MUST ensure that Patient Consent is respected (for example where express dissent is recorded then data is not shared).

Cross organisation audit and provenance transport

Bearer token

Consumer systems MUST provide audit and provenance details in the HTTP Authorization header as an OAuth Bearer Token (as outlined in RFC 6749 in the form of a JSON Web Token (JWT) as defined in RFC 7519.

An example such an HTTP header is given below:

     Authorization: Bearer jwt_token_string

Provider systems MUST respond to oAuth Bearer Token errors in line with RFC 6750 - section 3.1. It is highly recommended that standard libraries are used for creating the JWT as constructing and encoding the token manually may lead to issues with parsing the token. A good source of information about JWT and libraries to use can be found on the JWT.io site.

JWT generation

Consumer systems MUST generate the JSON Web Token (JWT) consisting of three parts separated by dots (.), which are:

  • header
  • payload
  • signature

Consumer systems MUST generate an unsecured JWT using the ‘none’ algorithm parameter in the header to indicate that no digital signature or MAC has been performed (please refer to section 6 of RFC 7519_ for details).

{
  "alg": "none",
  "typ": "JWT"
}

Payload

Consumers systems MUST generate a JWT payload conforming to the requirements set out in the JWT Payload section of this page.

Signature

Consumer systems MUST generate an empty signature.

Complete JWT

The final output is three base64url encoded strings separated by dots (note: there is some canonicalisation done to the JSON before it is base64url encoded, which the JWT code libraries will do for you).

eyJhbGciOiJub25lIiwidHlwIjoiSldUIn0.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.

Note: the final section (the signature) is empty, so the JWT will end with a trailing . (this must not be omitted, otherwise it would be an invalid token)

JWT payload

Consumers MUST populate the payload section of the JWT with the following claims:

Please see details below on how to populate each claim.

iss (issuer) claim

Consumer systems token issuer URI.

As the consuming system is presently responsible for generating the access token, this MUST contain the URL of the Spine endpoint of the consumer system.

In future OAuth2 implementation, the iss claim will contain the URL of the OAuth2 authorisation server token endpoint.

Example: "iss": "https://consumersupplier.thirdparty.nhs.uk/"

sub (subject) claim

ID for the user on whose behalf this request is being made. Matches requesting_practitioner.id.

Example: "sub": "10019"

aud (audience) claim

The Authorization server’s token URL.

The value MUST be fixed to https://authorize.fhir.nhs.net/token

Example: "aud": "https://authorize.fhir.nhs.net/token"

exp (expiry) claim

Identifies the expiration time in UTC on and after which the JWT MUST NOT be accepted for processing.

The expiration time MUST be set to 5 minutes after the token creation time (populated in the iat claim).

The value must be an integer representing seconds past 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 UTC, i.e. UNIX time.

Providers MUST reject requests with expired tokens.

Example: "exp": 1469436987

iat (issued at) claim

The time the request and token were generated in UTC.

The value MUST be an integer representing seconds past 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 UTC, i.e. UNIX time.

Example: "iat": 1469436687

reason_for_request claim

The purpose for which access is being requested.

As GP Connect only supports usage for direct care, this value MUST be set to directcare.

Example: "reason_for_request": "directcare"

requested_record claim

The identifier of the record being requested.

The request can be made using the FHIR Patient or FHIR Organization resource.

Patient example:

"requesting_record": {
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://fhir.nhs.net/Id/nhs-number",
      "value": "9658218873"
    }
  ]
}

Organization example:

"requesting_record": {
  "resourceType": "Organization",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://fhir.nhs.net/Id/ods-organization-code",
      "value": "A1001"
    }
  ]
}

requested_scope claim

The scope of the request.

Please the table below for which values to populate.

Claim value Description When to use
patient/*.read Patient record read request - Get patient’s record
organization/*.read Other read request - Get the conformance profile

Providers should also read the associated Security guidance in relation to this claim.

Example: "requested_scope": "patient/*.read"

requesting_device claim

The system or device making the request, populated as a minimal Device resource.

The consumer MUST populate the following Device fields:

  • an id with a unique logical identifier
  • an identifier element, with:
    • system containing a consumer-defined system URL representing the type of identifier in the value field, for example http://consumersupplier.com/Id/device-identifier
    • value containing the device or system identifier
  • model with the consumer product or system name
  • version with the version number of the consumer product or system

The Device resource populated in this claim is a minimally populated resource to convey key details for audit, conforming to the base DSTU2 FHIR resources definition, and is not required to conform to a GP Connect FHIR resource profile.

Example:

"requesting_device": {
  "resourceType": "Device",
  "id": "c4c8d038-913a-490c-9682-47047f4155fb",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://consumersupplier.com/Id/device-identifier",
      "value": "CONS-APP-4"
    }
  ],
  "model": "Consumer product name",
  "version": "5.3.0"
}

requesting_organization claim

The consumer organisation making the request, populated as a minimal Organization resource.

The consumer MUST populate the following Organization fields:

  • name with the name of the organisation
  • an id with a unique logical identifier
  • an identifier element, with:
    • system containing http://fhir.nhs.net/Id/ods-organization-code, and
    • value containing the ODS code of the organisation

The Organization resource populated in this claim is a minimally populated resource to convey key details for audit, conforming to the base DSTU2 FHIR resources definition, and is not required to conform to a GP Connect FHIR resource profile.

Example:

"requesting_organization": {
  "resourceType": "Organization",
  "id": "79600119-ebaf-4362-bb89-d473a33b1675",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://fhir.nhs.net/Id/ods-organization-code",
      "value": "A1001"
    }
  ],
  "name": "Test Hospital"
}

requesting_practitioner claim

The user making the request, populated as a minimal Practitioner resource.

To contain the practitioner’s local system identifier(s) (for example login details / username). Where the user has both a local system user role as well as a nationally-recognised user role, then both MUST be provided.

The consumer MUST populate the following Practitioner fields:

  • id with a unique logical identifier (for example user ID or GUID) for the logged on user. This MUST match the value of the sub (subject) claim.
  • name with:
    • family containing the user’s family name
    • given containing the user’s given name
    • prefix containing the user’s title, where available
  • an identifier element with:
    • system containing http://fhir.nhs.net/sds-user-id
    • value containing the SDS user ID from the user’s NHS smartcard, or the value UNK if the user is not logged with an NHS smartcard
  • an identifier element containing a unique local user or user-role identifier for the logged on user (for example, user ID, user role ID, logon name) from the consumer system:
    • system containing a consumer-defined system URL representing the type of identifier in the value field, for example http://consumersupplier.com/Id/user-guid
    • value containing the unique local identifier for the logged on user
  • practitionerRole with:
    • system containing http://fhir.nhs.net/ValueSet/sds-job-role-name-1
    • value containing the SDS Job Role ID from the user’s NHS smartcard, or the value UNK if the user is not logged with an NHS smartcard

The Practitioner resource populated in this claim is a minimally populated resource to convey key details for audit, conforming to the base DSTU2 FHIR resources definition, and is not required to conform to a GP Connect FHIR resource profile.

Example:

"requesting_practitioner": {
  "resourceType": "Practitioner",
  "id": "f7737bf5-cfe7-491c-af3a-6f7177d5aee1",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://fhir.nhs.net/sds-user-id",
      "value": "111222333444"
    },
    {
      "system": "http://consumersupplier.com/Id/user-guid",
      "value": "54b9d987-c2f1-4fdd-a449-e67cdf41dd2b"
    }
  ],
  "name": {
    "family": [
      "Jones"
    ],
    "given": [
      "Claire"
    ],
    "prefix": [
      "Dr"
    ]
  },
  "practitionerRole": [
    {
      "role": {
        "coding": [
          {
            "system": "http://fhir.nhs.net/ValueSet/sds-job-role-name-1",
            "code": "R8000"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

JWT payload example

{
  "iss": "http://consumersupplier.thirdparty.nhs.uk/",
  "sub": "10019",
  "aud": "https://authorize.fhir.nhs.net/token",
  "exp": 1469436987,
  "iat": 1469436687,
  "reason_for_request": "directcare",
  "requested_scope": "patient/*.read",
  "requested_record": {
    "resourceType": "Patient",
    "identifier": [
      {
        "system": "http://fhir.nhs.net/Id/nhs-number",
        "value": "9658218873"
      }
    ]
  },
  "requesting_device": {
    "resourceType": "Device",
    "id": "c4c8d038-913a-490c-9682-47047f4155fb",
    "identifier": [
      {
        "system": "http://consumersupplier.com/Id/device-identifier",
        "value": "CONS-APP-4"
      }
    ],
    "model": "Consumer product name",
    "version": "5.3.0"
  },
  "requesting_organization": {
    "resourceType": "Organization",
    "id": "79600119-ebaf-4362-bb89-d473a33b1675",
    "identifier": [
      {
        "system": "http://fhir.nhs.net/Id/ods-organization-code",
        "value": "A1001"
      }
    ],
    "name": "Test Hospital"
  },
  "requesting_practitioner": {
    "resourceType": "Practitioner",
    "id": "f7737bf5-cfe7-491c-af3a-6f7177d5aee1",
    "identifier": [
      {
        "system": "http://fhir.nhs.net/sds-user-id",
        "value": "111222333444"
      },
      {
        "system": "http://consumersupplier.com/Id/user-guid",
        "value": "54b9d987-c2f1-4fdd-a449-e67cdf41dd2b"
      }
    ],
    "name": {
      "family": [
	      "Jones"
	    ],
      "given": [
        "Claire"
      ],
      "prefix": [
        "Dr"
      ]
    },
  "practitionerRole": [
    {
      "role": {
        "coding": [
          {
            "system": "http://fhir.nhs.net/ValueSet/sds-job-role-name-1",
            "code": "R8000"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

External documents / policy documents

Name Author Version Updated
GPSoC IG Requirements for GP Systems NHS Digital v4.0 19/09/2014
GP Systems Interface Mechanism Requirements V 1 NHS Digital v0.10  
Tags: integration

All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated