National Care Records Service

NCRS is a service that allows health and social care professionals to access and update a range of patient and safeguarding information across regional integrated care system (ICS) boundaries.

The service provides a summary of health and care information for care settings where the full patient record is not required to support their direct care. It is a web-based application and can be accessed regardless of what IT system an organisation is using.

The NCRS provides access to over 63 million patient records.

NCRS enables any authorised clinician, care worker or administrator, in any health or care setting, to access a patient’s information to support that patient’s direct care.

NCRS enables any authorised clinician, care worker and/or administrator, in any health or care setting, to access a patient’s information to support that patient’s direct care. 

NCRS should be used: 

• where access to a summary of key patient information is required to support clinical decision making where full detailed patient records are not required 
• to compliment local shared records by giving access to key patient information across ICS boundaries 
• where a local shared care record is not available currently 

The strategic intention for NCRS was set out in the Department for Health and Social Care policy Plan for digital health and care.

It is part of the work to build core national ‘connect’ capabilities, to enable authorised health and care professionals to have a holistic experience of the health and care system, no matter where they happen to be in England.

NCRS is available via mobile or desktop devices connected to the internet or the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN).

User authentication is provided by NHS Care Identity Service 2 (NHS CIS2).

Helpful information on using NCRS is provided in the NCRS user guidance.

This service is live.

NCRS is a gold service, meaning it will be available and supported 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Refer to the Service Management page for details on live service status statistics. 

To use NCRS, users require an NHS Care Identity Service authenticator, which can include existing smartcards, and a relevant role for authentication. 

Helpful information on using NCRS is provided in the National Care Records Service (NCRS) user guidance. 

Connection requirements

To access NCRS, you will need: 

• access to the internet or a Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) connection 
• to ensure your organisation has completed a Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) self-assessment and or reviewed the latest updates to it. (DSPT - formerly known as the Information Governance Toolkit).
• local technical configuration including Identity Agent and NHS Credential Management as per Warranted Environment Specification on all user devices 
• an assigned privacy officer for alert and audit purposes when viewing SCR 
• agreed local processes to ensure robust governance - when viewing SCR you will need to follow the Permission to View guidelines 
• a valid use case to access the Personal Demographics Service and for new organisations, you will require Demographics approval 
• to have prepared training for users covering the features your organisation plans to use 

NCRS is a standalone portal. It can, therefore, be accessed regardless of what other IT systems an organisation is using.

NCRS can also be integrated directly into local systems via an in-context link. The summary information it provides may be useful in care settings when more detailed patient information is not required to support direct patient care. 

For organisations where mature Shared Care Record solutions are in place

Local systems will look to those to meet their detailed requirements for access to record and care plans. Initially these will be based around Integrated Care Board (ICB) footprints, or ICB collaborations. When national interoperability between local solutions is implemented, front line professionals will be able to access the detailed records and plans of the people they care for, regardless of where they live. 

The NCRS gives access now to a range of key patient information across regional boundaries to complement the local detailed Shared Care Records solutions.

For those less digitally mature and/or in the early stages of Shared Care Records planning

The NCRS is available now. It can be quickly onboarded to and deployed across multiple care settings. It provides safe and secure access to national clinical patient information which may not be available by other means within the area. It is free to use and can be accessed regardless of what other IT system an organisation is using.

The following table shows how to contact us about this service.