Production access for Service Search REST API

API Platform
,
1

Hello,

I run londongp.directory, a free, non-commercial public directory that helps Londoners find and compare NHS GP practices. It is built entirely on open NHS data (ODS FHIR, GP Patient Survey, CQC) and I would like to add each practice’s “accepting new patients” status, sourced from the Directory of Healthcare Services (Service Search) API — the same information already shown publicly on nhs.uk.

My use case:

  • Data accessed: public organisation-level data only (GP practice profiles, acceptance status). No patient data, no personal data, no user-restricted endpoints.
  • Access pattern: application-restricted, server-to-server only (a weekly GitHub Actions job). Roughly 1,000 requests once per week, results cached. No end users ever call the API.
  • Security: the API key is held as an encrypted GitHub Actions secret; nothing runs client-side.

I have an application on the API Platform (Application ID: 8b1fc0b5-c8f2-4c5c-bd90-5762b2322ebd) with “Service Search - REST API (Production Environment)” attached, currently showing Pending. The digital onboarding API list does not include Service Search, and I understand production enablement for this API may need to be initiated by an Onboarding Lead.

Could you advise the correct route to production access for this use case — or, if the v2 subscription-key route via the NHS website developer portal is still the supported path for public service-search data, confirm that and I will use it instead?

Many thanks,

Thierry Amiot londongp.directory

2

Hi Thierry,

Welcome to the Developer Community.

Regarding production access to the Directory of Healthcare Services (Service Search) REST API, this API is not currently onboarded through the self-service Digital Onboarding Service in the same way as many other APIs on the NHS API Platform.

Although you can associate the production API product with your application, the Pending status indicates that access still requires approval from the Service Search onboarding team. For your application (8b1fc0b5-c8f2-4c5c-bd90-5762b2322ebd), the next step is for the Service Search API team to review your request and determine whether your use case meets the criteria for production access.

Regarding your question about the v2 subscription-key route, if your requirement is simply to consume publicly available service-search information (such as GP practice details and accepting new patients status), the existing v2 Service Search API should work for those scenarios where it meets your functional requirements.

The Service Search API is owned by the NHS website service team, and developers can contact:** nhswebsite.servicedesk@nhs.net** or raise a request via the NSD. Details below:

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.