Electronic Prescription Service Directory of Services API

Use this API to access information about dispensing services, including searching for dispensers who can provide services for a patient with a given location and urgency.

You can:

• search for a dispenser by its location and opening hours
• search for a specific dispenser that the patient might have named

The API combines data from both the Directory of Services (DoS) and Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) web services (formerly known as NHS Choices).

It uses DoS for user authentication.

Do not use this API if you are building GP software - instead use Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) web services directly, as it provides access to information you'll need, for example, information such as dispensing appliance contractors.

This API can only be used where there is a legal basis to do so. Make sure you have a valid use case before you go too far with your development.

You must do this before you can go live (see ‘Onboarding’ below).

The following APIs are related to this API:

• Electronic Prescription Service - FHIR API  - access the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) - currently you can only use this new API to prescribe and dispense, but not track prescription

• Electronic Prescription Service - HL7 V3 API -  this API is deprecated

• Prescription Tracker API - use this if you want a read-only interface to obtain information about a patient’s prescriptions
• NHS BSA Prescription Services Open Data Portal - download public datasets including Secondary care medicines data (SCMD),  prescriptions issued in England, and Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) in England
• Directory of Services API - retrieve information about a wide range of health and care services in England with the Directory of Service (DoS) API.
• Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) web services - access dispenser information for a patient via NHS UK Web Services.

This API is in production, but under review for deprecation. We will contact you before agreeing to a retirement date.

This API is a bronze service, meaning it is operational and supported only during business hours (8am to 6pm), Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays.

For more details, see service levels.

This API is a simple RESTful API, returning JSON dispenser resources. 

For more details, see basic REST.

You can access this API via:

• the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN)
• the internet

For more details, see Network access for APIs.

This API is application-restricted, meaning we authenticate the calling application not the end user.

We authenticate the calling application using HTTP basic authentication based on username and password. 

There is a sole dedicated user in DoS for the EPS DoS API. Your application must authenticate with:

• the dedicated EPS DoS system username
• the EPS DoS system password

To obtain the credentials for the dedicated DoS system user, contact us. 

For more details see Authentication.

You can test this API using our Path to Live environments.

You need to get your software approved by us before it can go live with this API. We call this onboarding. The process can sometimes be quite long, so it’s worth planning well ahead.

Details of the onboarding process are on our onboarding guidance for suppliers webpage.

For a full list of interactions for this API, see the Develop section in the EPS DoS API specification, particularly the REST Endpoints Reference.