The Purpose and use of the Supplier Conformance Assessment List (SCAL)

The SCAL is for completion by a Supplier who is developing a Product to integrate with either:
- an NHS Digital Service API and thus interface with a Spine Service.
- an NHS Digital defined or curated standard and associated technical specifications
This SCAL must be kept up to date with any changes to the Supplier Product (e.g. version or technical details) or with the status of adherence to Service Requirements or NHS Digital terms of use as outlined in the Connection Agreement.
The Supplier Information and IG,Security & Clinical Safety tabs can be completed once per Supplier, for the initial NHS Digital Service API integration request, but must subsequently be reviewed regularly and updated to reflect changes of information.
The SCAL must be completed and provided to the Solution Assurance team during the Technical Conformance process. The SCAL is designed to be iterated as the Product is developed and undergoes Technical Conformance assessment.
When the Technical Conformance process is complete, the SCAL will be provided to the End User Organisation via the ‘Portal’ for the NHS Digital Service API. This is done to assist the End User Organisation in assessing and accepting the Supplier Product. As stated in the End User Declaration, the End User Organisation is responsible for evaluating the information in this SCAL and undertaking local risk assessments and assurance of the Supplier Product.

Technical Conformance process

Technical Conformance assessment involves ‘local’ (Supplier) testing against an NHS Digital provided interface stub, followed by end-to-end testing in a live-like environment.
Once these are satisfactorily completed, NHS Digital will confirm that the Technical Conformance process is complete and issue a Technical Conformance Certificate.
The Supplier will then be guided to enter into a Connection Agreement with NHS Digital.

The table below outlines the roles and responsibilities for those who will either complete or review the Supplier Conformance checklist:

Role	Responsibility within the Technical Conformance process
End User Organisation	The organisation that will deploy the Supplier System/Product for use in direct patient care, often by healthcare professionals. They are accountable for reviewing the content of the completed Supplier Conformance Assessment Checklist and undertaking local assurance, risk management and acceptance of the Product. The End User Organisation may also be the Supplier, if a Product is developed in-house
Supplier	Organisation responsible for developing the System or Product that will interface with an NHS Digital Spine Service and be deployed by an End User Organisation. Responsible for completing the relevant sections of the Supplier Conformance Assessment List, and thus demonstrating compliance against the requirement set and agreeing to a Connection Agreement.
NHS Digital	Responsible for reviewing the relevant sections of the Supplier Conformance Assessment Checklist for completion Responsible for ensuring guidance is provided to the Supplier completion of the SCAL. Provides a certificate of technical conformance on successful completion of the SCAL.