DAPB3009 Healthy Child Programme
An information standard for child health services, to allow everyone involved in caring for children to share information by using standardised digital records.
In November 2016, NHS England published Healthy Children: Transforming Child Health Information, a digital strategy describing how making child health information more accessible, and sharing this information, can support parents and professionals in their care of children and young people.
Phase 1 - This information standard supported the move to sharing of child health information by setting out the Healthy Child Record specification that care providers were asked to comply with, on a local basis, to ensure consistent use of standardised data formats across all providers.
Phase 2 - Interoperability and Implementation - of this information standard now introduces the mechanisms for sharing of this standardised data.
This information standard is published under section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. An Information Standards Notice provides an overview of scope and implementation timescales, and the other listed documents provide further detail for those who have to implement the information standard.
Publication: Information Standards Notice
What's Changed
Phase 2.3: The New born screening event now includes testing for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). This is an in-service evaluation to assess the feasibility of adding SMA into the national new born blood spot screening programme.
SMA will be added to the list of conditions forming part of the newborn blood spot screening result sub-status simple reference set.
| Scope |
This standard applies to the following key groups and organisations who provide health care to children including: Primary Care Services, Child Health Organisations, Community services, School Nursing services, Maternity Services, Health Visiting services, Screening Laboratories. Organisations providing NHS England commissioned immunisation services for children. Organisations in scope of this standard shall work through local contractual arrangements with their system suppliers to implement the changes required: Principal Clinical Providers (GP / Primary Care Services), Child Health Information System Providers, Community system suppliers for example Health Visitor and School Nursing System Providers, Screening Service Suppliers (supporting UK Health Security Agency’s national screening programme for children), Any system supplier providing solutions for NHS England commissioned immunisation services, DPCHR (digital Personal Child Health Record) providers |
|
| Type | Collection | |
| Schedule of submission | Daily | |
| Responsible | Data Assurance Board | |
| Date of approval | 21 April 2026 | |
| Publication date | 15 May 2026 | |
| Release name | Amd 3/2026 | |
| Implementation date | 1 October 2026 | |
| Full conformance date | 1 October 2026 | |
| End date of assurance | 30 June 2027 | |
| Legislation |
|
|
| Key documents |
Requirements Specification and Implementation Guidance (Amd 3/2026) Record Specification (Amd 3/2026) |
|
| Contact information |
Earlier releases and updates
Last edited: 4 June 2026 8:08 am