What should I do if I can support the retrieval of a document/record in both structured and unstructured formats? Should I register multiple pointers or just one single pointer?
If the content of the document/record is the same, NRL providers should create one single pointer including information about the multiple different formats that content is available. Please see example below:
`{
"resource": {
"resourceType": "DocumentReference",
"id": "Y05868-00000-NRL-1829",
"meta": {
"lastUpdated": "2025-12-15T17:39:18.288Z"
},
"masterIdentifier": {
"system": "urn:ietf:rfc:3986",
"value": "urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.21367.2005.9.0"
},
"status": "current",
"docStatus": "final",
"type": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "``http://snomed.info/sct``",
"code": "824321000000109",
"display": "Summary record"
}
]
},
"category": [
{
"coding": [
{
"system": "``http://snomed.info/sct``",
"code": "823651000000106",
"display": "Clinical note"
}
]
}
],
"subject": {
"identifier": {
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/Id/nhs-number``",
"value": "9999999999"
}
},
"date": "2025-12-12T10:45:41+11:00",
"author": [
{
"identifier": {
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/Id/nhsSpineASID``",
"value": "200000000010"
}
}
],
"custodian": {
"identifier": {
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/Id/ods-organization-code``",
"value": "Y05868"
}
},
"description": "Test NRLF docref with multiple content attachments",
"content": [
{
"attachment": {
"contentType": "application/pdf",
"language": "en-UK",
"url": "ssp://some-example-url.pdf",
"title": "Test IPS doc pdf attachment",
"creation": "2025-12-15T10:45:41+11:00"
},
"format": {
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/CodeSystem/England-NRLFormatCode``",
"code": "urn:nhs-ic:unstructured",
"display": "Unstructured Document"
},
"extension": [
{
"url": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/StructureDefinition/Extension-England-ContentStability``",
"valueCodeableConcept": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/CodeSystem/England-NRLContentStability``",
"code": "static",
"display": "Static"
}
]
}
},
{
"url": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/StructureDefinition/Extension-England-NRLRetrievalMechanism``",
"valueCodeableConcept": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/CodeSystem/England-NRLRetrievalMechanism``",
"code": "SSP",
"display": "Spine Secure Proxy"
}
]
}
}
]
},
{
"attachment": {
"contentType": "text/html",
"language": "en-UK",
"url": "``https://digital.nhs.uk``",
"title": "Test IPS provider contact details",
"creation": "2025-12-15T10:45:41+11:00"
},
"format": {
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/CodeSystem/England-NRLFormatCode``",
"code": "urn:nhs-ic:record-contact",
"display": "Contact details (HTTP Unsecured)"
},
"extension": [
{
"url": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/StructureDefinition/Extension-England-ContentStability``",
"valueCodeableConcept": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/CodeSystem/England-NRLContentStability``",
"code": "static",
"display": "Static"
}
]
}
},
{
"url": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/StructureDefinition/Extension-England-NRLRetrievalMechanism``",
"valueCodeableConcept": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/CodeSystem/England-NRLRetrievalMechanism``",
"code": "Direct",
"display": "Direct"
}
]
}
}
]
},
{
"attachment": {
"contentType": "text/html",
"language": "en-UK",
"url": "ssp://some-example-url-structured.html",
"title": "Test IPS web doc",
"creation": "2025-12-15T10:45:41+11:00"
},
"format": {
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/CodeSystem/England-NRLFormatCode``",
"code": "urn:nhs-ic:structured",
"display": "Structured Document"
},
"extension": [
{
"url": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/StructureDefinition/Extension-England-ContentStability``",
"valueCodeableConcept": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/CodeSystem/England-NRLContentStability``",
"code": "dynamic",
"display": "Dynamic"
}
]
}
},
{
"url": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/StructureDefinition/Extension-England-NRLRetrievalMechanism``",
"valueCodeableConcept": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/England/CodeSystem/England-NRLRetrievalMechanism``",
"code": "SSP",
"display": "Spine Secure Proxy"
}
]
}
}
]
}
],
"context": {
"practiceSetting": {
"coding": [
{
"system": "``http://snomed.info/sct``",
"code": "224891009",
"display": "Healthcare services"
}
]
},
"related": [
{
"identifier": {
"system": "``https://fhir.nhs.uk/Id/nhsSpineASID``",
"value": "200000000010"
}
}
]
}
}
}`
Hi @Elizabeth_Williams, If the retrieval request includes the content type being requested, why would we need multiple URLs in the pointer? We had planned to serve all formats from the same URL, and return the type requested in the request header (as per your other post). Does this pointer structure mean we have to send three attachment sections in the pointer for the three formats, all with the same URL? I can see there’s additional metadata to identify structured vs unstructured, but I’m not sure what value that adds? I would have though it was obvious that a PDF isn’t structured data?
As things currently stand, we haven’t asked people to send the content type being requested in the retrieval request - we’ve only proposed that people specify whether they want gp connect data including or excluding. This approach is for multiple reasons:
- management information - having multiple pointers for the same document in each different format would imply we have pointers to more records than we actually do
- backwards compatibility - we have existing consumers integrated who can only do unstructured data, and are not sending parameters in to SSP stating they want unstructured data
- We do not want to cause confusion by supporting a mixed economy where providers do things in different ways
We will go away and review our position on whether the same URL can be used for structured and unstructured versions of the same record, but it will definitely be the case that you have to have multiple attachment sections in the same pointer.
@Elizabeth_Williams - We had been following the detail from your other post for supporting the content type in the retrieval request: How to specify format required in SSP retrieval request? - is that no longer correct? I’ve not see anything about a parameter to include/exclude GP data.
Sorry Adam, my memory has clearly failed me! I must be getting the conversations about an optional parameter for GP data inclusion and the format of the record mixed up. Let me check our decision log and get back to you on this one.