Apply for NHS login

The purpose of the application process is to understand if your service is suitable for NHS login, and to make sure it fits your needs.

You'll be assigned a project manager to work with you throughout the application, and provide all the support and documentation you need. 

Most communication will be through Microsoft Teams. 

Partners typically take 3 to 4 months to complete the process, but it can take as little as 6 weeks.  

NHS login allows patients to access health and care services. It does not cover clinical authorisation. 

Before you apply for NHS login, you should make sure it fits your needs by reviewing the webpage How NHS login works 

You can find information on NHS login from a user's perspective at www.nhs.uk.

You can also find information from a technical perspective on the NHS login Developer Documentation website.

Let us know if you're working with other NHS England digital APIs when you apply as there may be linked dependencies. For example you cannot have the GP surgery information scope in the NHS login integration test or live environments before you are live with IM1, either direct via NHS England IM1 or via an approved third party IM1 connection.

To apply for NHS login you'll need to:

1. Create a developer account
2. Start the digital onboarding process

While we review your application, you can take a look at the work required in the Discovery stage.

If we think your product may be eligible for NHS login we'll invite you to an Application Review Call.

During the call we'll discuss:

• how your product would work with NHS login
• your expected timescale to live
• data hosting and processing locations. You must tell us about any transfer of, or access to, data outside the UK including to the EU/EEA area. Data transfer outside of the UK and EU/EEA will not normally be accepted
• where your product will be deployed – NHS login is for use in England only
• current commissioners and any commissioning discussions underway
• the need for other NHS England APIs – such as IM1 PFS or PDS FHIR
• the identity verification and authentication level your product needs, based on the transaction examples in Appendix D of the DAPB3051 Standard
• what user information you need (for example contact details or NHS number), based on your understanding of our Scopes and Claims guidance
• any use of artificial intelligence (AI) by your product

You can ask anything you’re unsure about during the call.

What happens next

At the end of the call, we'll let you know if we think your product is eligible. We may recommend that you do more work to understand how NHS login works.

If we think your product is eligible and has a valid use case, we'll send a report to the NHS login Partner Integration Board. The board will decide if your use case is approved (and can move to the next stage of development), rejected, or deferred pending further information. We'll let you know the date of the board meeting and their decision.