UK Core Services Matrix
For the short explanation and system-to-system integration indicators, start with the UK Core Services Executive Summary. This page retains the 43-function comparison and evidence limits. The UK Healthcare Connectivity Landscape explains the service layers, programmes and supplier context.
A comparison of UK healthcare digital services by function, extended through England’s DSIC requirements for modern GP systems. Named national services are shown where established; otherwise the cell describes the practice, provider, health-board or programme route. DSIC and additional-function review: 29 September 2026. The original core-service baseline below retains its 16 September 2026 review date and linked rollout limits. Editorial alignment: 1 October 2026, including the 30 September flag-interface, ScotAccount and opt-out evidence already held in the country pages; this is not a fresh UK-wide deployment review.
Delivery level and evidence are different: trust/laboratory or health-board delivery describes an existing route; unverified identifies something the sources do not establish. “Regional” in Northern Ireland commonly means HSC-wide, across the nation. Pilot/beta, rollout and planned entries are not universally available. These are functional counterparts, not interchangeable services or APIs. Unverified counterpart means this review did not establish an equivalent national service or interface; it does not mean the clinical function is absent. A significant service is included even when only one nation has a verified national route.
Start with core services, then access and GP transactions, urgent-care routing, safety and prevention, coding and reporting, and cross-nation reuse. The DSIC reading explains which requirements are directly mapped and which are adjacent services.
Core Services
✓ Current Med IS — light teal cells identify services reported as available with the current Med IS by the user on 21 September 2026. For pathology results, the mark applies to EDIFACT over MESH only; the FHIR reporting API remains a separate pilot. Unmarked cells have no current Med IS status recorded here.
| Function | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient demographics and identifier | Personal Demographics Service (PDS); NHS number ✓ | Community Health Index (CHI) | Welsh Demographic Service (WDS); NHS number/PDS link | NIDIS; Health and Care Number |
| Organisations and site codes | Organisation Data Service (ODS) ✓ | PHS National Reference Files | Welsh Reference Data and Terminology Service (WRTS) | NI organisation codes via ODS; specified organisation types |
| Pathology requesting (clinician → laboratory) | Trust / laboratory based — GP and hospital ordering to the receiving lab | Health-board / laboratory routes — GP and hospital ordering systems | Electronic Test Requesting / GP Test Requesting (ETR/GPTR) — rollout | EpicCare Link — blood-test orders |
| Pathology results | EDIFACT messaging over MESH ✓ FHIR reporting API — pilot |
SCI Store — board-held results retrieved by configured GP software; dated national evidence, current board/discipline coverage unverified | Welsh Results Reporting Service (WRRS), through WCP | CoreLIMS; encompass/EpicCare Link viewing |
| Radiology requesting | Trust / imaging-provider routes — requests to the provider's radiology system | Health-board / radiology-department routes — local ordering systems | ETR/GPTR — rollout | EpicCare Link — imaging orders |
| Radiology results / reports | Provider-held reports; National Imaging Registry (NIR) — limited beta retrieval across organisations | Health-board / provider routes — reports returned to the referrer | RISP (radiology systems) / WCP — phased replacement | NIPACS+ — imaging reports |
| Radiology image archive / access | NIR — limited beta discovery/retrieval, not an archive | National PACS | All-Wales PACS / RISP — phased replacement | NIPACS+ |
| Referrals | NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) ✓ | SCI Gateway | Welsh Clinical Communications Gateway (WCCG) | encompass / EpicCare Link |
| Community electronic prescriptions | Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) | ePharmacy / Acute Medication Service (AMS) | EPS — GP rollout continues | ePharmacy programme — national transfer route planned |
| GP-derived summary record | Summary Care Record (SCR) | Emergency Care Summary / Key Information Summary (ECS/KIS) | Welsh GP Record (WGPR) | ECS / KIS through NIECR — documented route; current feed coverage unverified |
| General professional record viewer | National Care Records Service (NCRS) | Health-board clinical portals — permissions and cross-board access vary | Welsh Clinical Portal (WCP) | encompass / EpicCare Link — HSC records |
| Patient portal | NHS App | MyCare.scot — initial national features | NHS Wales App | My Care — encompass subset |
| Clinical document / message exchange | MESH ✓ | SCI Gateway | WCCG | Electronic Document Transfer (EDT) — hospital → GP documents; EpicCare Link messages |
| GP record transfer between practices | GP2GP | Electronic GP record transfer — within Scotland | GP2GP | GP2GP — programme evidence; live scope unverified |
| Healthcare network | Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) ✓ | Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN) | Public Sector Broadband Aggregation (PSBA) | HSC Wide Area Network |
Access, Registration and GP Transactions
These functions are distinct from identifying a patient, showing a summary record or sending a file. Links lead to the service or the country page’s supporting evidence. The DSIC IDs are mapped below.
| Function | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff authentication and service permissions | CIS2 / Care Identity; DSIC Authentication and Access | NDP Authentication — production, application onboarding | Smartcards / registration-authority permissions for EPS; Welsh services retain their access controls | HSC/application-specific access; nation-wide CIS2 counterpart unverified |
| Patient sign-in, online permissions and proxy relationships | NHS login; provisioning; Validated Relationship Service; patient-facing GP APIs have separate scope | ScotAccount OIDC login for MyCare.scot — beta, eligible-service onboarding; proxy permissions and practice online services separately configured | NHS login reused under a Welsh identity standard; access remains service/practice controlled | nidirect for My Care; GP online accounts are separate |
| GP registration, deductions and list maintenance | PCRM; GP Links; Register with a GP Surgery — application intake, register transactions and record transfer are separate | Practitioner Services / CHI transactions | PCRM + enhanced WDS; NHAIS replaced July 2024 | NHAIS continuity / NIDIS Phase 2; completed registration cutover unverified |
| System endpoint discovery | Spine Directory Service (SDS) — accredited systems and endpoints | Unverified national counterpart; service-specific integration | Unverified general Welsh counterpart; shared Spine use does not establish every endpoint route | Unverified national counterpart; service-specific integration |
| Detailed GP record retrieval for professionals | GP Connect HTML / Structured / Access Document; capability and supplier scope apply | ECS/KIS and NDP Data Access provide summaries; complete GP-record API unverified | WGPR through WCP is a summary; GP Connect-equivalent full-record API unverified | NIECR GP-summary route; feed completeness unverified; encompass is not GP core |
| Structured clinical updates into the GP record | GP Connect Update Record — approved sender/receiver workflows; new-developer onboarding closed | General national GP-write counterpart unverified | General national GP-write counterpart unverified; patient contact-detail edits are a different function | General national GP-write counterpart unverified; EpicCare Link orders/referrals do not establish it |
| Cross-organisation GP appointment booking | GP Connect Appointment Management — provider and booking-consumer roles; new-developer onboarding closed | Practice booking routes; national interoperable counterpart unverified | Practice-enabled patient booking exists; cross-organisation GP API counterpart unverified | Practice online appointments exist; My Care excludes GP appointments; cross-organisation GP API unverified |
| Third-party GP-system integration and bulk interfaces | IM1 Patient / Practice / Bulk interfaces — supplier-specific implementations and pairing | Supplier interface and bulk-access scope unverified; requires GP-supplier evidence | Supplier interface and bulk-access scope unverified; requires GP-supplier evidence | Supplier interface and bulk-access scope unverified; requires GP-supplier evidence |
| Registration and demographic event notifications | NEMS PDS Record Change / MNS validated-registration signals | CHI updates and NHSCR movement notifications; different transaction model | WDS/PCRM feeds; NEMS/MNS subscription equivalence unverified | NIDIS demographic distribution; NEMS/MNS subscription equivalence unverified |
| Patient notification delivery | NHS Notify — NHS App messages, email, text and letters; scoped DSIC pathway standard | Provider/programme communications; NHS Notify reuse unverified | Provider/programme communications; NHS Notify reuse unverified | Provider/programme communications; NHS Notify reuse unverified |
England availability is narrower than the catalogue. GP Connect’s service page closes new-developer onboarding for Update Record, Send Document and Appointment Management; existing suppliers can still onboard end users. Its patient-facing API note, dated July 2025 and still present in the September 2026 page, limits that route to New Market Entrant providers and the NHS App consumer. An effective DSIC requirement is neither an open API entitlement nor completed supplier rollout.
Registration evidence adds an important distinction: Welsh PCRM is shared registration infrastructure, while the Scottish NHSCR exchanges demographic/movement information across UK registration authorities. Neither fact proves cross-border online access to a full GP clinical record. See GP2GP for the separate clinical-record transfer limits.
Urgent Care Routing
Reviewed 29 September 2026. Urgent-care access, clinical triage, service discovery, referral handoff and arranging attendance are separate functions. A directory result is not a referral; a delivered referral is not proof of an accepted appointment. The same telephone number or supplier does not establish a shared national system. Country links below hold the technical and locality limits.
| Function | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public urgent-care access | NHS 111 telephone / online / NHS App entry; channel scope differs | NHS 24 on 111; NHS inform / NHS 24 Online self-help | NHS 111 Wales telephone and website; Welsh service and local onward care | Trust Phone First and GP out-of-hours; locality-specific access. Regional HSC 111 remains a proposal, not an established equivalent |
| Clinical triage and decision support | NHS Pathways, followed by clinical assessment where needed; distinct from DoS and message transport | NHS 24 assessment and board Flow Navigation Centres (FNCs); separate clinical-platform/CRE evidence | Call Prioritisation Streaming System (CPSS), ECNS and clinical assessment; NHS Pathways adoption not established | Phone First / GP out-of-hours assessment; current regional engine/interface coverage unverified |
| Urgent-care service discovery | UEC Directory of Services; existing SOAP/REST routes and staged DoS Search replacement. Separate from e-RS DoS and public DoHS listings | Scotland's Service Directory for public lookup; England-compatible clinical-search API unverified | Public service finder and internal 111 DoS; All-Wales DoS development does not prove England UEC DoS reuse | Trust/SPPG service directories and local routing; national UEC DoS-compatible API unverified |
| Clinical referral handoff and GP notification | BaRS for supported applications; existing NHS 111 SOAP/CDA reports. Actionable referral and informational GP post-event message are distinct | NHS 24 clinical care record shared with GP/receiving teams; uniform payload, acknowledgement and BaRS conformance unverified | 111 / health-board handoff; general WCCG availability does not prove the urgent-care message route or BaRS conformance | Local Phone First / out-of-hours handover; transport, acknowledgement and BaRS conformance unverified; encompass is not automatic proof |
| Appointment or arrival-time arrangement | 111 downstream arrangements; GP Connect for GP slots in eligible existing systems. BaRS application and supplier availability apply | FNC / local-board arrangements; the board manages onward clinical callbacks and appointment times, not a universal NHS 24 booking API | Named 2024 urgent-primary-care booking trials; wider availability remains local and a universal external API is unverified | Phone First can arrange onward attendance; Trust, site, age and operating-hour scope vary |
England's directory transition is incomplete at operation level. The new DoS Search specification supports organisation/endpoint lookup, while its published healthcare-service and triage-search operations are not yet available in UAT or production. Existing UEC SOAP/REST routes remain production services under review for deprecation; the 2026–27 roadmap is not a completed switch. A FHIR catalogue entry alone is insufficient for selecting an urgent-care matching interface.
DSIC relevance is role-specific. S33 NHS 111 v2.0.5, effective 18 September 2026, covers receiving solutions, including C13 GP primary/copy reports. S93 BaRS v2.0.3 and S107 UEC DoS v1.0.3 became effective on 10 September: S93's current capability mapping includes GP-to-pharmacy referrals, while S107 currently applies through Community Pharmacy Clinical Services. Neither requires every GP product to implement every urgent-care pathway. See the detailed standard mapping.
Cross-border care and learning are evidenced; shared national routing APIs remain unverified. Wales documents England/Wales selection for border callers and referral according to GP registration and the appropriate service. This establishes a care pathway without proving a common technical backend. NHS 24's December 2023 board report records NHS Pathways assurance discussions. The PRSB 111 content model also drew on UK-wide consultation, while its project excluded cross-border 111-to-111 transfers and nation-specific adaptation. These establish learning and a reusable information model, not common NHS Pathways, England DoS or BaRS deployments across all four nations.
For an integration, verify the assessment output, receiving service, local availability, referral purpose, acceptance/failure handling and appointment owner separately. Preserve the difference between an actionable referral and a GP notification. Scotland's new navigation-centre commitments, Welsh directory development and NI HSC 111 proposals retain their planning status in the country pages; none proves a live national replacement. The four-nation adapter model applies these distinctions to implementation evidence.
Safety, Prevention and Care Planning
A flag, a care-plan document, a vaccination event and a screening invitation are different objects. Their presence in a clinical record does not prove there is a nationally queryable or writable API.
| Function | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locate and share emergency / future care plans | National Record Locator (NRL) pointers, viewed through NCRS or an approved system; documents remain with providers | KIS; digital ReSPECT in participating boards | WCP Future Care Plan documents and discussion indicator | KIS/NIECR context; current plan/feed coverage unverified |
| Share reasonable-adjustment needs | Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag — role-controlled NCRS actions; Patient Flags API internal/beta, with external integration at first-of-type | KIS / hospital passports — needs can be recorded | National flag/API counterpart unverified; local needs-recording is not proof of Spine flag reuse | National flag/API counterpart unverified; encompass/local recording is not proof of Spine flag reuse |
| Child-protection information sharing | Child Protection – Information Sharing (CP-IS) — protection-plan/looked-after information; production healthcare read API and separate local-authority MESH route; healthcare access notifies the authority in unscheduled care, not scheduled care | GIRFEC framework; local-authority child-protection registers — national NHS CP-IS-style API unverified | National CP-IS service/API counterpart unverified | National CP-IS service/API counterpart unverified |
| Female genital mutilation (FGM) information flags | FGM Information Sharing (FGM-IS) — under-18 family-history indicator; NCRS viewing/addition/removal is role-controlled; legacy read API is deprecated production, read/update API retired, successor internal/beta | National FGM-IS flag/API counterpart unverified | National FGM-IS flag/API counterpart unverified | National FGM-IS flag/API counterpart unverified |
| Vaccination-event recording and reporting | Immunisation FHIR / existing MESH extracts — S116 distinguishes new and existing solutions and supported vaccines | VMT / NCDS / NDP Vaccination Service — FHIR, internal-user scope | Welsh Immunisation System (WIS); FHIR development does not prove England API adoption | Vaccine Management System (VMS) |
| Child-health reviews, birth-related events and immunisation recall | CHIS / Digital Child Health / NEMS — participating services and defined events | Child Health System (CHS) — replaced CHSP/SIRS in early/mid-2026 | CYPrIS → National Community Child Health Database; board delivery and national reporting | Child Health System data reported by PHA; operational encompass-transition scope unverified |
| Screening call/recall and screening results | CSMS cervical call/recall; S58 separately governs screening-result messages | SCCRS — cervical call/recall, requests and results | CSIMS cervical; DEWIS breast selection / Welsh NBSS — programme-specific | NHAIS cervical continuity; replacement completion unverified, separate from NIDIS registration |
| Suspected medicines / vaccine adverse reactions | MHRA Yellow Card — UK service; GP-system integration separately assessed | MHRA Yellow Card — same UK service | MHRA Yellow Card — same UK service | MHRA Yellow Card — same UK service |
England’s flag access depends on the route and operation. NCRS permissions do not establish the same write access in an API. The interface comparison separates production CP-IS, deprecated read-only FGM and the internal/beta Patient Flags successor. Healthcare CP-IS access does not edit protection plans. Successor testing and published operations do not establish completed migration.
GIRFEC means Getting it right for every child: Scotland’s broader framework for children’s wellbeing and coordinated support, including child protection. A GIRFEC child’s plan, a child-protection register entry and a digital alert are distinct. The Scottish explanation sets out their relationship; GIRFEC is not itself evidence of a national CP-IS-equivalent interface. FGM flags have their own row because their purpose and permitted actions differ.
These are meaningful asymmetries: England’s NRL, national adjustment flag and CP-IS/FGM services deserve named rows even without verified counterparts elsewhere. Scotland’s KIS adjustment content, CHS and SCCRS, and Wales’ WCP future-plan and programme-specific screening functions remain visible on their own terms. Similar purpose is not API equivalence.
Yellow Card is a genuine shared UK medicines/vaccine reporting service. Device-incident reporting has a different Scottish route, so that broader function should not inherit an identical four-nation cell. Current GP-product integration still needs evidence.
Safeguarding
Child protection and FGM information flags are the safeguarding-specific functions already covered above, repeated here for quick reference. This is a focused view of existing entries, not a complete safeguarding-service inventory. Unverified national counterparts do not imply that safeguarding activity is absent. See the safeguarding executive view.
| Function | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child-protection information sharing | Child Protection – Information Sharing (CP-IS) — protection-plan/looked-after information; production healthcare read API and separate local-authority MESH route; healthcare access notifies the authority in unscheduled care, not scheduled care | GIRFEC framework; local-authority child-protection registers — national NHS CP-IS-style API unverified | National CP-IS service/API counterpart unverified | National CP-IS service/API counterpart unverified |
| Female genital mutilation (FGM) information flags | FGM Information Sharing (FGM-IS) — under-18 family-history indicator; NCRS viewing/addition/removal is role-controlled; legacy read API is deprecated production, read/update API retired, successor internal/beta | National FGM-IS flag/API counterpart unverified | National FGM-IS flag/API counterpart unverified | National FGM-IS flag/API counterpart unverified |
Coding, Reporting and Payments
These rows distinguish the coded clinical record from approved data extraction, payment calculation, and payment administration. Shared data standards do not make extraction purposes or contract rules interchangeable.
| Function | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical and medicines terminology | SNOMED CT UK Edition / dm+d / NHS Terminology Server; England requirements | UK Edition via TRUD; dm+d in ePharmacy/payment workflows; Scottish rollout/governance | Welsh SNOMED CT standard; local implementation proof still needed | Regional Coding Programme — SNOMED/terminology-server plans; complete rollout unverified |
| GP extracts, quality and activity reporting | GPES; GPAD weekly appointment data — separate purpose-specific flows | PCIS — approved aggregate extracts; SPIRE retired August 2023 | Audit+ — documented extension into 2026; later replacement status unverified | GPIP/QOF — aggregate extracts and returns; replaced PCAS July 2022 |
| GP achievement verification, claims and payments | CQRS calculation/approval; PCSE Online payment administration | Practitioner Services / Primary Care Contractor Finance | FPPS supplied by NI BSO, with Welsh rules/environment and WDS capitation feed | GPIP/QOF payment calculations; FPPS supplier provenance does not establish every current NI payment workflow |
| National preference for secondary uses of data | National Data Opt-Out — specified uses of data about care in England; MESH list checking applies existing choices, not preference-setting | Equivalent single national service unverified; national/local data-governance arrangements apply | Equivalent single national service unverified; national/local data-governance arrangements apply | Equivalent single national service unverified; national/local data-governance arrangements apply |
| Fit-note issue and statistical reporting | eMED3 / fit notes; separate England GP extract | GB Med3/fit-note workflow; local digital implementation must be checked | GB Med3/fit-note workflow; local digital implementation must be checked | NI fit-note provisions; digital issue where systems support it |
The National Data Opt-Out is an England care/data-scope distinction, not simply a residency rule, and it does not govern direct-care sharing. A person living elsewhere may have relevant English care records. The devolved cells do not imply an absence of privacy rights, objections or programme-specific choices. Its MESH checking service filters submitted NHS-number lists; it does not set or change the patient’s preference. Common fit-note purpose likewise does not establish use of England’s statistical extract in another nation.
The reporting and payment comparison uses separate evidence for each administration. It does not equate GPES with unrestricted analytics, PCIS with a payment engine, or NHSBSA pharmacy claims with GP contractor payments.
Using DSIC as the Comparison Lens
DSIC provides an England requirements and assurance baseline, not a UK-wide certification scheme. Use its capabilities to ask whether a modern GP system supports the complete workflow, then identify the correct national interface, contract and supplier role. A national service can be important to a GP system without having a dedicated DSIC standard entry. A modular viewer or integration engine does not become a GP foundation system by connecting to these services.
| GP-system responsibility | Direct DSIC anchors verified in this review | Comparison implication |
|---|---|---|
| Maintain patient information and registration | C13 Patient Information Maintenance – GP; S53 GP Links, S113 registration intake, S111 NEMS, S112 MNS, S114 validated relationships | Separate identity lookup, a registration application, accepted list changes, notifications, proxy relationships and GP2GP record transfer. |
| Control staff and patient access | S54 Authentication and Access; S68 NHS login; S125 NHS login Provisioning; S103–S105 patient-facing prescriptions, records and permissions | Staff login, patient identity, clinical authorisation and proxy permissions need separate evidence. |
| Read, contribute to and integrate the GP record | S98 HTML; S99 Structured; S101 Send Document; S102 Update Record; S47 IM1 | Provider/consumer and sender/receiver roles matter; viewing, document filing and coded updates are different operations. |
| Manage and share appointment capacity | C5 Appointments Management – GP; C23 Cross-organisation Appointment Booking; S100 appointment API; S62 activity reporting | A local book, a patient booking button, cross-provider booking and reporting are four distinct functions. |
| Report, verify and support prevention | S46 GPES; C10 GP Extracts Verification/CQRS; S116 vaccination; S58 screening messages | Extraction/verification and clinical event delivery are separate; screening messages are not the whole call/recall service. |
| Communicate with patients | C7 Communication Management; S124 NHS Notify | Notify is currently scoped to the Digital Pathways Solution Registry, not a blanket requirement for every GP-system component. |
| Provide wider national-service connectivity | SDS, NRL, CP-IS and reasonable-adjustment flags have verified service/other-standard evidence | No dedicated S-ID was established in the current non-overarching catalogue review. Keep them in the comparison without inventing a DSIC mapping. |
September 2026 changes matter: C13 v10.0.2 and S114 v1.0.1 became effective on 23 September; S125 v1.0.0 and S103–S105 v1.1.0 on 9 September. The latter patient-facing API standards explicitly dispense with GP Linkage Keys. S54 v2.0.2 became effective on 10 September. These are DSIC document versions/effective dates, not proof that all deployments migrated. Wales’ reuse of NHS login does not import this timetable.
S116 v3.0.0, effective 30 June 2026, also distinguishes new solutions sending supported vaccination data through the Immunisation FHIR API at recording from existing daily MESH extract implementations. A generic “vaccination connectivity supported” claim loses that difference.
The capability-to-standard crosswalk carries implementation detail. Local consultation recording, prescribing safety, tasks, scanning, document handling, audit, resilience and accessibility remain part of the wider GP foundation model; this matrix concentrates on connectivity and nationally organised workflows, rather than duplicating every application feature.
What Actually Crosses Borders
“Pollination” needs a named shared component or documented exchange. These categories prevent the same supplier, a similar screen or a common acronym from becoming an unsupported interoperability claim.
| Relationship | Verified example | What can be reused — and the boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Same service / infrastructure | England and Wales: NHS login; Spine/PDS for Welsh EPS; PCRM registration/reporting | Real shared services. Welsh onboarding, authorisation, configuration and contract scope remain distinct; this does not establish wholesale DSIC or GP Connect adoption. |
| Platform supplied across nations | Northern Ireland → Wales: BSO-developed FPPS, supplied into a Welsh-specific environment | Concrete reverse-direction reuse under a service agreement; payment rules and interfaces still need Welsh implementation evidence. |
| Administrative data exchange | Scottish NHSCR movement/demographic links with England/Wales and NI, including Armed Forces record movement | Actual cross-border linkage and notifications. It does not prove a common patient identifier, uninterrupted electronic clinical-record transfer or online full-record access. |
| Shared terminology and distribution | Scottish use of SNOMED CT UK Edition/TRUD and dm+d; Welsh SNOMED adoption | Reusable codes/packages, with national governance and implementation differences. Same terminology does not establish compatible APIs or complete data coverage. |
| Joint standards development | FHIR UK Core across all four nations; Wales’ WHC/2023/018 explicitly supports UK Core-based guidance | Collaborative standards, not simply England exporting a finished service. Use an agreed released profile/package: the version history distinguishes balloted STU2 2.0.1 from development builds. National adoption authority and live endpoint conformance remain separate. |
| UK service or common administrative function | MHRA Yellow Card; fit-note workflows across GB and separate NI provisions | Shared safety service/common function; embedded GP-system implementation and England extraction obligations still require separate proof. |
| Functional counterpart only | CIS2 versus NDP authentication; CSMS versus SCCRS/CSIMS; GP Connect versus summary/portal routes | Comparable purpose with different systems, coverage, permissions and contracts. No automatic cross-border API compatibility established. |
The architecture implication is a shared clinical workflow and data model with nation-specific service adapters and assurance. This is a synthesis from the evidence above, not proof of an existing product implementation. Reuse validated identity, terminology, audit and message-handling components where their contracts permit; separately verify registration, access, consent/permissions, record semantics and operational responsibility for each connection. The four-nation adapter model and InterSystems compliance map retain the product-specific proof boundary.
Reading the Differences
- Delivery scope: trust/laboratory and health-board labels identify where requests are handled, not a missing clinical function. Shared regional arrangements may exist, but the matrix does not assume a uniform regional service or name a local product as a national equivalent. Country pages hold the illustrative local implementations.
- Tests: requesting, reporting and image access are separate functions. Pathology requesting here means clinician-to-laboratory ordering; National Pathology Exchange (NPEx) separately carries requests/results between participating UK laboratories.
- Scotland: SCI Store has documented national origins but holds data in board repositories. The national-adoption statement is from 2015; complete 2026 coverage remains unverified. Radiology providers return reports to referrers, while National PACS supports cross-board image access.
- Wales: ETR/GPTR and WRRS are national services accessed through WCP. Test-requesting and EPS adoption remain phased, as does RISP replacement. National service scope does not mean every practice or site has completed its rollout.
- Northern Ireland: HSC-wide services are often called regional. ECS/KIS through NIECR and hospital-to-GP EDT are documented functions; current NIECR feed completeness remains unverified during transition. EpicCare Link's messages are distinct from EDT document delivery. Core GP systems remain outside encompass, and national prescription transfer remains planned.
- Directories and messages: organisation reference codes identify organisations/sites; they are not system-endpoint directories. MESH is used beyond England, and the listed communication services do not all provide the same transport or workflow.
The linked country pages hold service definitions, sources and delivery limits. Use the UK Healthcare Connectivity Landscape for the wider model, Diagnostic Results and Image Exchange for technical detail, and GP Connect and Spine Equivalents by Nation for the integration/assurance comparison. InterSystems participation must be checked separately; this matrix identifies national services, not their suppliers.