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Personal Demographics Service (PDS)

Personal Demographics Service (PDS)

ID

S56

Version

3.0.1

Type

Standard

Status

Effective

Effective Date

Jul 18, 2025 

Contracting Vehicle(s)

 

Introduction

The Personal Demographics Service (PDS) is the national electronic database of NHS Patient details such as name, address, date of birth and NHS Number (known as demographic information).

Requirements 

GP Suppliers

Applicable Suppliers

ID

Requirement

Level

Suppliers of Solutions which ARE currently deployed into an operational environment, and have implemented PDS HL7

PDS01

PDS Integration Requirements 2006-B, or a later version (e.g. 2018 PDS Integration Requirements – v1.0 or PDS FHIR API).

MUST

  • Suppliers of new Solutions (i.e. those which are NOT currently deployed into an operational environment with existing PDS compliance).

  • Suppliers of Solutions which ARE currently deployed into an operational environment and have implemented the PDS FHIR API.

PDS02

Implement and maintain the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) FHIR API inline with the latest specification version as per Functionality Mapping section.

MUST

Community Pharmacy Suppliers

Applicable Suppliers

ID

Requirement

Level

Community Pharmacy Suppliers

PDS04

Implement and maintain the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) FHIR API inline with the latest specification version as per Functionality Mapping section.

MUST

All Suppliers are encouraged to work towards compliance with the latest version as above.

Functionality Mapping

Applicable Suppliers

Search for a Patient

Get Patient details

Update Patient details

GP Suppliers

Community Pharmacy Suppliers

Compliance, Assurance and Testing

PDS FHIR API

For Suppliers of new Solutions, Solutions which ARE currently deployed into an operational environment and have implemented the PDS FHIR API, and Community Pharmacy Solutions, see the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) section in Onboarding Overview of the Digital Care Services Interoperability Standards and Requirements.

2018 PDS Integration Requirements – v1.0 or older

For Suppliers of Solutions which ARE currently deployed into an operational environment and have implemented PDS HL7:

To gain access to PDS Suppliers previously will have followed the Common Assurance Process (CAP). CAP is an end-to-end assurance process, which involves a tailored (CAP) approach being developed which states what deliverable and compliance activities are conducted.

As part of the CAP Suppliers will be asked to demonstrate adherence to the following specifications:

These specifications contain a set of generic requirements applicable to all systems seeking compliance to a business domain. Compliance with these specifications is mandatory and established through the CAP.

The documents that define and support the compliance assurance and testing activity for the PDS compliance module are detailed within the above mentioned Foundation Module - Baseline Index V1.0.

For advice and support from the NHS Business Partners Programme, please contact businesspartners@nhs.net or visit https://digital.nhs.uk/services/nhs-business-partners

Documentation

PDS FHIR API

For Suppliers of new Solutions, Solutions which ARE currently deployed into an operational environment and have implemented the PDS FHIR API, and Community Pharmacy Solutions:

It is recommended to read GP software developer guide in conjunction with the API documentation.

2018 PDS Integration Requirements – v1.0

For Suppliers of Solutions which ARE currently deployed into an operational environment, and have implemented PDS HL7:

The following documents form the PDS integration baseline for local systems wishing to integrate with PDS. This new set of requirements apply to all new system suppliers wishing to complete PDS integration. Existing suppliers are not expected to implement the full scope of new requirements until '2018 PDS Integration Requirements – v1.0' is mandated for all Suppliers.

The two documents below are listed in the 2018 PDS Integration Foundation Module - Baseline Index - v1.0 document as Guidance documents. They are of a historic nature but contain important information that is still relevant today.

The following document tells Supplier which RBAC is relevant to PDS-related activities and enables Suppliers to focus their approach accordingly. Suppliers are advised to focus their attention on sections 1, 3 and 4.

The following document provides useful background information on how a Supplier might support business processes relating to BUS Sensitive patient records.

Dependencies

 

Creating a compliant implementation requires implementing the following dependent interface standards:

PDS FHIR API

For Suppliers of new Solutions, Solutions which ARE currently deployed into an operational environment and have implemented the PDS FHIR API, and Community Pharmacy Solutions (using Healthcare worker access).

2018 PDS Integration Requirements – v1.0 or older

For Suppliers of Solutions which ARE currently deployed into an operational environment, and have implemented PDS HL7:

Creating a compliant implementation previously required implementing the following dependent interface Standards:

Roadmap

Items on the Roadmap which impact or relate to this Standard