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Part of NHS architecture principles

Internet first

All digital services should adopt internet standards and protocols, and services must be available over the public internet by default.

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Summary

All digital services should adopt internet standards and protocols, and services must be available over the public internet by default.

Rationale

When we adopt these standards and protocols, we:
  • maximise the amount of technologies and digital services that will work for us and for those we care for
  • maximise the number of developers and software engineers that can help us transform health and care, and meet the needs of our users
  • minimise what you must learn to build software and digital services for health and care
  • maximise the amount of distributed data we can handle

Our health and care system will never be a centralised service because it serves the citizens of an entire nation, and so too should its infrastructure not be centralised. But appropriate access to our data from any part of it – like access to your email from anywhere, if you have the right passwords – is an important part of delivering care and staying healthy.

Implication

Digital architectures must demonstrate that they are designed to use the internet as the default way of accessing information. This has two contexts:

  1. Internet is preferable to non-digital interactions for most users (letter, phone).
  2. Public internet is preferable to private networks.

This supports sustainability by enabling digital by default. 

This should be shown in architecture diagrams and assessed by the Architecture Approval Group.

Last edited: 6 February 2024 2:23 pm

Previous Chapter

Put our tools in modern browsers

Next Chapter

Public cloud first

Chapters

  1. NHS architecture principles
  2. All digital services need to be delivered sustainably
  3. Put our tools in modern browsers
  4. Internet first
  5. Public cloud first
  6. Build a data layer with registers and APIs
  7. Adopt appropriate cyber security standards
  8. Use platforms
  9. Put user needs first
  10. Interoperability with open data and technology standards
  11. Reuse before buy/build