Separate given names - minor breaking change

Healthcare Worker API
1

This is an advance warning of a minor breaking change we’re planning to make to the Healthcare Worker (HCW) FHIR API.

We’re planning to change to the way we return healthcare worker names from the API.

Currently, they are returned as a single string within the given array in the FHIR response, for example:

"name": [
  {
    "use": "usual",
    "family": "Smith",
    "given": [
      "Jane Allison"
    ],
    "prefix": [
      "Ms"
    ]
  }
]

Going forward, they will be returned as separate strings within the given array, for example:

"name": [
  {
    "use": "usual",
    "family": "Smith",
    "given": [
      "Jane",
      "Allison"
    ],
    "prefix": [
      "Ms"
    ]
  }
]

This change better reflects how the data is held in the underlying SDS datastore and better reflects the intended FHIR format of the given array.

We’ll be making the change on or after Friday 14 August 2026, and we’ll let you know when it’s done.

Depending on your implementation, you might need to make some changes to your software to account for it.

If you have any questions or concerns about this change, leave a comment below or contact us.