We want to make it as easy as possible for people to engage with the Developer Community, so we’ve made it open for the public to view. You do not need to sign in to browse content, but you do need to create an account if you want to create and comment on posts.

During the 6-month ‘proof of concept’ phase, we defined categories (for example, ‘FAQ’ and ‘Announcements’) and published pre-prepared content responding to the most common queries received by our team. We also improved the discoverability of our content by ensuring we were using the key terms that are picked up by search engines.

Sharing a post in the open is a great way to get more people looking at the problems beyond just the support teams. Other members see it with fresh eyes and so may suggest more creative ideas – things that have simply not occurred to you or the support teams when solving your problem. Our team of moderators are also always on hand – monitoring the quality of content and ensuring questions get prompt responses.

If you need to research integration with our products and services, our search function is a great place to start. Your questions will often have been raised by other users and someone else may have already solved the specific issue you are encountering. 

The community also provides a space to signpost users to relevant information on the NHS website – for example new guides, updated NHS API management information and upcoming events such as webinars and roadshows.

 So, whether you are a developer, product owner, or API producer, we need you to share your information and insights.

We are starting to see the emergence of a thriving community with a culture of shared learning.

Some users have said they want to see more content in the community. With more users engaging, we are confident that we are going to see an organic growth of content and collective knowledge over time.

Our priority is to make the community work well for its current audience and then expand it to help colleagues working in other areas. User research will continue so that we understand how we can keep improving the space and make integration with our APIs easier.

We are considering how we might build on our success and are already engaging with other integration teams in our organisation, such as Spine and the National Care Record Service (NCRS). We have had positive engagement so far: for example, our Summary Care Record team have signed up and subscribed to community notifications, significantly improving our community's access to expertise in that area.

A lot of hard work has gone into building the community and its culture, and there are loads of room for improvement. If you are interested in integrating with our products and services – or want to support others to do so – we want you to get involved.

If you think the community can support you and would like to speak to us then please email us or share your thoughts on the latest community feedback topics. We're always looking for ways to improve and would like to hear ideas on what you would like to see on the community.