How to use Child Protection - Information Sharing (CP-IS)

CP-IS helps health and social care professionals identify when a child is subject to a child protection plan or is a looked-after child.

This guidance explains:

• who can use CP-IS
• how CP-IS supports care delivery
• where to find operational guidance for CP-IS-enabled systems
• how to get support and report issues

Unborn child protection plans are recorded against the mother's record in CP-IS. 

To share an unborn child protection plan through CP-IS, the local authority must record:

• the mother's NHS number
• the mother's demographic details
• a link between the unborn child and the mother's record in the local authority social care system

When this information is uploaded to CP-IS, the unborn child protection plan is associated with the mother's NHS record. Healthcare professionals can then view the information when treating the mother.

After the baby is born:

1. The midwife will provide the local authority the NHS number for the newborn baby.
2. The local authority will end the unborn child protection plan and create the child protection plan against the baby’s record.

If there is a delay between birth and the child being named, you can temporarily record the child as:

Baby [mother's name]

For information about how your system manages unborn child protection plans, refer to your supplier's training and guidance.

Accurate NHS number matching is essential for CP-IS to work correctly.

Read the guidance for local authorities on matching children's records with the correct NHS number.

• CP-IS NHS number matching information

1. Contact your local helpdesk

Report the issue to your local helpdesk if one is available.

2. Contact your system supplier

If you do not have a local helpdesk, or the issue remains unresolved, contact your supplier's helpdesk.

The supplier should investigate and resolve the issue where possible.

3. Escalate to the National Service Desk

Escalate the issue to the NHS England National Service Desk (NSD) at [email protected] if the supplier:

• cannot resolve the issue
• believes the issue relates to NHS Spine services
• does not provide a satisfactory outcome

Alternatively, you can log the incident yourself using the customer service portal. 

When reporting an issue, provide:

• your organisation name and type
• supplier and product details, if known
• a description of the issue
• the impact on users or services

This helps the service desk route your enquiry to the correct team.

Follow your supplier's escalation process first.

If the issue is still not resolved, you can escalate it to the National Service Desk.

If NHS England is already investigating the incident, make sure you have the incident reference number before contacting the service desk.

You can monitor the status of national services and sign up for service updates through the National service status page.

This includes services such as:

• Health and Social Care Network (HSCN)
• Personal Demographics Service (PDS)
• Spine
• National Care Records Service (NCRS)
• Care Identity Service (CIS)

Where NHS England identifies an issue affecting Spine services, authenticated supplier users are notified directly.

• Child Protection - Information Sharing (CP-IS) service page
• How CP-IS works
• What CP-IS does
• When to use CP-IS
• Service availability
• Compliance and governance requirements
• Implementation and integration