Written by Technical Team | Last updated 31.07.2025 | 5 minute read
Developed by TPP, and used in around 50% of GP Practices in England, SystmOne is a critical system managing healthcare delivery across primary, community and secondary care, offering secure access to patient information where and when it is needed. For developers and digital health companies, understanding the difference between the Demo and Live environments in SystmOne integration is vital to ensuring safe, reliable and compliant development. Both environments play a critical role in the journey from concept to live deployment, but they serve very different purposes.
The Demo environment is designed as a safe testing ground for digital health innovators. It mirrors the structure and behaviour of the Live system but uses fictitious patient data. This ensures that developers can experiment, test XML messaging requests, and refine their SystmOne integration without the risk of accessing or exposing real patient information.
One of the key benefits of the Demo environment is stability. It provides a consistent and reliable test bed where third‑party developers can validate that their applications connect successfully, exchange data as expected, and handle SystmOne responses correctly. Because the Demo environment is updated in parallel with the Live system, developers can be confident that the behaviour they observe during testing will reflect what happens in production.
In practice, working with the Demo environment involves installing a SystmOne client configured to connect to the Demo servers. Innovators are usually provided with login credentials for a fictitious organisation, ensuring access remains controlled and secure. Using the SystmOne Client Integration API, developers can send XML requests over a TCP socket to interact with the system.
Functions such as searching for patient records, retrieving demographics, and testing data input can all be carried out using the Demo environment. While the data is not real, it follows the same format and structure as live patient information, allowing developers to verify both functionality and data handling. This testing process is critical to ensuring that once an application moves into the Live environment, it performs seamlessly and securely.
Although the Demo environment provides the foundation for development, the real goal for innovators is deploying a solution into the Live SystmOne environment. The Live environment is the production system used daily by healthcare professionals across the UK. It contains real patient data and is integral to the delivery of care.
Moving from Demo to Live is not just a technical step; it is also a regulatory and compliance milestone. Applications must demonstrate that they handle XML messaging correctly, respect throttling rules, and maintain high standards of security before being approved for Live use. For many innovators, this stage involves rigorous validation, documentation, and in some cases, engagement with clinical commissioning groups or NHS bodies to ensure the integration supports clinical workflows safely.
One important factor when integrating with the Live environment is managing throttling. SystmOne applies strict limits on how often certain XML functions can be called to maintain system stability. For example, the GetPatientRecord function is typically limited to one request every thirty seconds, unless restricted to demographics or recent data. Other functions are limited to one per second.
In the Demo environment, developers can test how their applications behave under these conditions. However, in Live, performance management becomes critical. A poorly optimised integration could slow down clinical workflows or risk breaching the throttling limits, potentially leading to service disruption. Digital health innovators should therefore design applications that use caching strategies, request optimisation, and efficient handling of XML responses to ensure that they remain compliant while still delivering value to clinicians.
Security is at the forefront of both Demo and Live environments, but the stakes are much higher in Live. In the Demo environment, fictitious data provides a safe space to test and iterate without the risk of exposing sensitive patient information. However, once in Live, every XML request and response relates to actual patient care, and any mishandling of data could have significant consequences.
The SystmOne Client Integration API enforces structured XML schemas to ensure requests and responses remain valid and secure. Innovators must ensure that their applications not only handle data accurately but also comply with relevant NHS and GDPR standards. This includes secure data transmission, proper authentication, and strict adherence to patient confidentiality.
For digital health innovators, the Demo environment is more than a sandbox—it is a vital stage in the lifecycle of a SystmOne integration. By rigorously testing in Demo, developers can identify potential issues early, refine workflows, and ensure that XML messaging functions correctly before progressing to Live. This reduces the risk of errors, speeds up approval for Live deployment, and builds trust with healthcare providers.
Moreover, because the Demo and Live environments are kept aligned in terms of functionality, developers can be confident that lessons learned during testing will apply directly when the application goes live. This alignment helps innovators plan their development cycles more effectively and reduces unexpected issues during deployment.
For many digital health innovators, the distinction between Demo and Live environments may initially seem like a formality. In reality, it is one of the most important aspects of SystmOne integration. The Demo environment provides the secure foundation for innovation, allowing developers to experiment, build, and refine their solutions without risk. The Live environment, meanwhile, is where those solutions prove their value in real‑world healthcare settings.
By understanding how both environments operate and the role XML messaging plays in each, innovators can design integrations that are not only technically sound but also clinically meaningful. Thorough testing in Demo, careful optimisation for Live, and a deep understanding of the SystmOne Client Integration API enable developers to create solutions that improve care delivery, enhance interoperability, and support the NHS in its digital transformation journey.
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