Use this integration to publish or receive messages about changes to a patient's vaccination details, including:
- new vaccinations
- updated vaccination details
- deleted vaccination details
This service currently covers childhood vaccinations up to the age of 19, and for direct care purposes only, in the context of Digital Child Health. If you'd like to use this API to publish or consume other vaccination types across all age groups, contact nrlnems.ls@nhs.net.
Using a publish-subscribe model, we share information about these events with healthcare workers in other organisations such as GPs, Emergency Departments and Local Authorities.
This integration uses a publish-subscribe model - the sending system publishes events to National Events Management Service (NEMS), and NEMS forwards the events to all subscribed systems via MESH.
For example, when a GP system records a vaccination, it sends an event message containing the vaccination details to NEMS. NEMS then sends the message to all healthcare workers who have subscribed to receive vaccination event messages.
Who can use this
This integration can only be used where there is a legal basis to do so.
Make sure you have a valid use case before you go too far with your development. To do this, contact us.
For details of the legal basis for sharing NEMS events, see the NEMS controller catalogue.
You must do this before you can go live (see 'Onboarding' below).
Security and authorisation
This integration uses NEMS and MESH API which are application-restricted, meaning we authenticate the calling application but not the end user.
You can use this pattern as follows:
- unattended (end user not present), for example as part of a back end process to check NHS numbers for data flowing from one system to another
- attended (end user present) - in which case, you must ensure the end user is authenticated and suitably authorised locally by the calling application
In particular, this integration uses TLS-MA authentication.
It also implements authorisation controls which restrict the event types that the connecting application can subscribe to or publish.
Environments and testing
This integration uses NEMS, which is available in Opentest for early development and testing.
NEMS is also available for testing purposes in:
The base URLs are as follows:
Environment |
Network availability |
URL |
OpenTest |
OpenVPN |
https://msg.opentest.hscic.gov.uk/ |
Development |
HSCN |
https://msg.dev.spine2.ncrs.nhs.uk/ |
Integration |
HSCN |
https://msg.int.spine2.ncrs.nhs.uk/ |
Integration |
Internet |
https://msg.intspineservices.nhs.uk/ |
Deployment |
HSCN |
https://msg.dep.spine2.ncrs.nhs.uk/ |
Production |
HSCN |
Contact us |
Production |
Internet |
Contact us |
The base URL for the publishing and subscribing interactions are the same, but the path is different, for example:
- publish in integration over HSCN:
https://msg.int.spine2.ncrs.nhs.uk/STU3/Events/1/$process-message
- subscribe in integration over HSCN:
https://msg.int.spine2.ncrs.nhs.uk/STU3/Subscription
- publish in integration over the internet:
https://msg.intspineservices.nhs.uk/STU3/Events/1/$process-message
- subscribe in integration over the internet:
https://msg.intspineservices.nhs.uk/STU3/Subscription
There is a testing tool which allows you to simulate a provider publishing event messages. You can also simulate making changes on PDS to trigger PDS-published event messages so you can test event message consumption.
To get advice on how to begin testing, contact us.
For more details, see the NEMS onboarding guide on getting access to Opentest and the integration (INT) test environment.
Last edited: 24 October 2022 5:40 pm