Use this API to access Child Protection - Information Sharing (CP-IS) from a scheduled or unscheduled healthcare setting. CP-IS is the national electronic database of child protection information.
Unscheduled care providers
As an unscheduled care provider, you can:
- get a patient's CP-IS information - which automatically triggers a notification to the relevant local authority - see connections 3, 4, 5 and 6 on the diagram
Scheduled care providers
As a scheduled care provider, you can:
- get a patient's CP-IS information without automatically triggering a notification to the relevant local authority - see connections 3 and 4 on the diagram
Local authorities
Local authorities should use the Child Protection - Information Sharing - MESH integration.
Information held in CP-IS
CP-IS holds the following information for each registered patient:
- NHS number
- details of their plan - type, start date and end date
- details of the 25 most recent CP-IS information accesses from unscheduled care settings in England
- the name of the responsible local authority - together with their office hours phone and emergency duty contact numbers
Identifying patients
All records in CP-IS are held against the patient's NHS number. It is therefore very important to ensure you use the correct NHS number for each patient.
For more details, see CP-IS NHS number matching information.
Using NCRS as an interim measure
We prefer care providers to integrate their applications directly with CP-IS using our CP-IS APIs. However, as an interim measure, you can use our National Care Records Service to access CP-IS information.
Spine Mini Service Provider (SMSP) options
There are also commercially available products which give easier access to CP-IS, known as Spine Mini Service Providers (SMSPs).
These and other conforming software products are listed in our Conformance Catalogue.
If you are interested in becoming a provider of one of these products, see Child Protection - Information Sharing - SMSP API standards.