Developer Cheat Sheet shortcuts for the
technical build of NRLS API.
technical build of NRLS API.
Important: This site is under active development by NHS Digital and is intended to provide all the technical resources you need to successfully develop APIs. This project is being developed using an agile methodology so iterative updates to content will be added on a regular basis.
Warning: This site is provided for information only and is intended for those engaged with NHS Digital on the development of APIs. It is advised not to develop against these specifications until a formal announcement has been made.
1. Profiles:
Links to the NRLS FHIR profiles on the NHS FHIR Reference Server.
| Profile | Description |
|---|---|
| NRLS-DocumentReference-1 | A DocumentReference resource is used to describe a record that is made available to a healthcare system. |
| Spine-OperationOutcome-1 | Operation Outcome resource that supports a collection of error, warning or information messages that result from a NRLS Service Spine interaction. |
| Spine-OperationOutcome-1-0 | The default Spine OperationOutcome profile resource that supports exceptions raised by the Spine common requesthandler and not the NRLS Service. |
2. NRLS Pointer FHIR Profile
The table maps the ‘lean alpha’ Solution Data Model to NRLS-DocumentReference-1 profile elements.
| Data Item | FHIR Element | Data Type | Card | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifier | id |
string | 0..1 | Assigned by the NRLS at creation time. Uniquely identifies this record within an instance of the NRLS. Used by Providers to update or delete. |
| Version | versionId |
string | 0..1 | Assigned by the NRLS at creation or update time. Used to track the current version of a Pointer. |
| Master Identifier | masterIdentifier |
Identifier | 0..1 | The masterIdentifier is the identifier of the document as assigned by the source of the document. It is version specific – i.e. a new one is required if the document is updated. It is an optional field, providers do not have to supply a value. |
masterIdentifier.system |
Uri | 1..1 | The namespace for the identifier. This element must be completed if the masterIdentifier is to be included. | |
masterIdentifier.value |
String | 1..1 | The unique value of the identifier. This element must be completed if the masterIdentifier is to be included. | |
| Record status | status |
Code | 1..1 | The status of the pointer |
| Record type | type |
CodeableConcept | 1..1 | The clinical type of the record. Used to support searching to allow Consumers to make sense of large result sets of Pointers. |
type.system |
Uri | 1..1 | Example Value: http://snomed.info/sct. | |
type.code |
Code | 1..1 | Symbol in syntax defined by the system. Example Value: 736253002 | |
type.display |
String | 1..1 | Representation defined by the system. | |
| Patient | subject |
Reference | 1..1 | The Patient that the record referenced by this Pointer relates to. Supports Pointer retrieval scenarios. |
| Record owner | author |
Reference | 1..1 | ODS code for the record owner organization. |
| Pointer owner | custodian |
Reference | 1..1 | ODS code for the pointer owner organization. |
| Related documents | relatesTo |
BackboneElement | 0..* | Relationships to other documents |
relatesTo.code |
Code | 1..1 | The type of relationship between the documents. This element is mandatory if the relatesTo element is sent. Possible values are replaces, transforms, signs, appends. | |
relatesTo.target |
Reference | 1..1 | The Target of the relationship. This should contain the logical reference to the target DocumentReference held within the NRLS using the identifier property of this Reference Data Type. | |
| Pointer referenced | content |
BackboneElement | 1..* | Record referenced |
| Record mime type | attachment.contentType |
code | 1..1 | Describes the format of the record such that the Consumer can pick an appropriate mechanism to handle the record. Without it the Consumer would be in the dark as to how to deal with the Record |
| Record URL | attachment.url |
uri | 1..1 | The location of the record on the Provider’s system and/ or a service that allows you to look up information based on the provider url e.g. web page with service contact details |
| Record creation datetime | attachment.creation |
dateTime | 0..1 | The date and time (on the Provider’s system) that the record was created. Note that this is an optional field and is meant to convey the concept of a static record. |
3. ValueSets
Links to the NRLS FHIR value sets on the NHS FHIR Reference Server.
| Valueset | Description |
|---|---|
| ValueSet-NRLS-RecordType-1 | A ValueSet that identifies the NRLS record type. |
| ValueSet-Spine-ErrorOrWarningCode-1 | A ValueSet that identifies the Spine error or warning code in response to a request. |
| ValueSet-Spine-Response-Code-1-0 | A set of codes to indicate low level error information about a Spine 2 error response to a request for patient record details. Exceptions raised by the Spine common requesthandler and not the NRLS Service will be returned using the Spine default spine-operationoutcome-1-0 profile which binds to this default valueSet. |
4. CodeSystems
Links to the NRLS FHIR CodeSystems on the NHS FHIR Reference Server.
| CodeSystem | Description |
|---|---|
| CodeSystem-Spine-ErrorOrWarningCode-1 | Spine error codes and descriptions. |
5. Identifiers
NRLS supported URI’s:
| identifier | URI | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Logical ID |
[baseurl]/DocumentReference/[id] | Pointer identifier |
Patient |
https://demographics.spineservices.nhs.uk/STU3/Patient/[NHS Number] | Patient |
organization |
https://directory.spineservices.nhs.uk/STU3/Organization/[ODS Code] | Record author or record owner |
Warning: The URI’s on subdomain
spineservices.nhs.uk are currently not resolvable, however this will change in the future where references relate to FHIR endpoints in our national systems.6. Examples
JSON Example
A JSON example of a DocumentReference resource is displayed below.
XML Example
An XML example of a DocumentReference resource is displayed below.
