Misleading - Directory of Healthcare Services API

API Platform
1

Hey

I am transitioning my site from the older V2 of service search to the new Directory of Healthcare Services API V3.

The docs state the following:

Existing partners will be able to reuse their existing queries but will need to:

a) Update the query endpoint to the new version

b) Include their new API key

API partners can continue using the API to search for organisations by location in the query string. However, unlike V1 and V2 of the API, the equivalent query with V3 is a two-step query process.

Step 1 will be to use the Ordnance Survey Places API or other commercially available software to determine the latitude or longitude from a postcode.

Step 2 will be to use the search endpoint (version 3) with the GeoLocation in the “latitude” and “longitude” query string.

Can I clarify my understanding here:

  1. We can transition to V3, providing we update the api-version, api-key and endpoint. In this case our existing queries will still work.
  2. But, in Feb 2026 existing queries will no longer work and we need to transition to the 2 step process as describe above?

thanks in advance

1 Like
2

Hi Peter,

Thanks for raising this.

The wording in the documentation can be misleading, and this has now been raised with the Service Search / Directory of Healthcare Services (DoHS) API team to review and clarify.

They are currently looking into this and will follow up with a more definitive response shortly.

Please note that Service Search v3 is still being rolled out incrementally and * Production enablement is not yet self-service

Thanks for your patience – we’ll update this thread as soon as the DoHS team come back with clarification.

Thanks,

NHS England API Platform team

Please note: The API Platform team can only address queries relevant to the NHS England API platform, including security, rate limiting, logging, monitoring and alerting. For any API, CIS2, NHS Login specific queries, please reach out the relevant API / Service teams.