Integrate your digital health application with NHS Spine 2 services using 6B’s secure, compliant, and proven integration expertise. We enable access to national NHS infrastructure, supporting integration with key services including the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), Summary Care Record (SCR), e-Referrals Service (e-RS), and the Personal Demographics Service (PDS).
Get in touchWhether you're developing a new digital health product or extending an existing solution with NHS Spine 2 integration, Whether you're developing a new digital health product or extending an existing solution with
As specialists in NHS Spine 2 integration, we help digital health innovators and NHS organisations connect to the national spine through structured, standards-aligned development – ensuring interoperability, governance compliance, and long-term sustainability.
NHS Spine 2 is the core national IT infrastructure that underpins digital health and social care services in England. It enables secure, standardised exchange of patient information between more than 20,500 organisations and over 23,000 healthcare systems.
Spine 2 powers many critical services, including:
Integration with Spine 2 requires adherence to national interoperability and security standards. 6B helps organisations navigate this complexity and build integrations that are secure, scalable, and ready for deployment across the NHS.
The Spine Mini Service Provider (SMSP) is a lightweight, read-only interface that provides secure access to Spine 2 data via the Interoperability Toolkit (ITK). It allows applications to retrieve demographic and core patient data without needing full Spine infrastructure access.
6B develops SMSP integrations tailored to your application’s needs, supporting identity verification, demographics lookups, and care coordination workflows. We also offer consultancy support for completing the required onboarding documentation, including ITK conformance packs and assurance guidance.
Following development, 6B conducts thorough integration testing using the NHS Digital Opentest environment. This open-access, Spine-aligned test infrastructure hosts live-like instances of:
We use Opentest to simulate real integration scenarios, validate interoperability, and ensure your solution performs as expected within the NHS ecosystem. It also provides a powerful platform for demonstrating functionality to prospective NHS customers and stakeholders.
Integrating your application with Spine 2 enables access to a wide range of national services that power the NHS’s digital operations. Whether verifying patient identity, retrieving core demographics, processing prescriptions, or initiating referrals, Spine integration ensures secure access to the data needed for joined-up, high-quality care.
By building to Spine 2 standards, your product becomes more interoperable, easier to deploy at scale, and more appealing to NHS customers. Integration also supports alignment with NHS England’s digital transformation strategy, enabling trusted, safe, and timely data sharing across the health and care system.
We have delivered integrations with key Spine services and are experienced in developing secure, scalable applications using SMSP, EPS, PDS, and other Spine-enabled APIs.
6B has worked with both public sector healthcare organisations and private digital health startups, supporting projects from proof-of-concept to full-scale deployment.
We are familiar with core NHS interoperability tools including MESH, NHS Login, and Spine Directory Services. We also integrate with leading clinical systems such as SystmOne, EMIS, and System C.
We are ISO 27001 certified, Cyber Essentials compliant, and experienced in working with sensitive health data in line with NHS and global standards including NHS DSPT, DTAC, HIPAA, and CFR Part 11. Our team works with healthcare data models including SNOMED CT, HL7 FHIR, openEHR, and CDM.
From planning and architecture to development, testing, onboarding, and go-live, we offer a full-service integration model. Our consultants handle communication with NHS Digital and manage assurance processes on your behalf to accelerate delivery and reduce risk.
