Design, build and test your software

When designing your solution, it's important to understand and align with the provided requirements and specifications. Each integration presents unique challenges, and NHS England subject matter experts (SME) are available to assist with any questions or clarifications you might have. If you are unsure who to contact if issues arise, notify your Partner Onboarding Team lead and they will direct you to the relevant individual.

To help support you effectively and avoid delivery issues, please provide clear and detailed design documentation and test evidence when required. Sharing additional documentation to de-risk specific parts of the integration can also help prevent delivery problems and reduce technical debt. Please note the documentation and test evidence required will vary depending on the feature(s) you are onboarding to. This will be covered with the relevant SME in your kick-off calls.

For features that include a User Interface you must replicate the screens and user journeys outlined in the Wayfinder prototype which you can find within the Solution Requirement Specification (SRS). The screens and content were developed using the NHS design system and NHS App components, which are part of the NHS service manual and are referenced within Wayfinder’s prototypes. These elements are based on extensive research and testing with NHS patients to meet user needs.

A content guide is available to offer direction on writing for NHS services. It covers guidelines on the usage of measurements, punctuation, and other essential elements.

Before starting the build, ensure you are familiar with the guidance provided in the prototype to ensure consistency and adherence to design principles.

The Design System components are created in alignment with the most recent WCAG accessibility standards. While these designs establish a foundation for optimal accessibility, it is essential to adhere closely to WCAG guidelines during the development of your solution.

The requirements and specifications you need to follow are detailed in the latest Solution Requirement Specification (SRS). This document contains the current requirements and specifications, and you should refer to it when building your solution.

Submit all required documentation via the Digital Onboarding Service (DOS) or Supplier Conformance Assessment List (SCAL). If you have any questions about the scope, functionality, technical aspects, design, or delivery, raise it with the Partner Onboarding Team who can liaise with the relevant teams.

Your build and designs will be assured across all environments.

You can start prototyping and building within your own development environments. We don’t recommend going beyond a prototype at this stage as there may be crucial information that comes out of initial discussions and assurance activities which requires significant changes to your design.

To access the Sandpit and AOS environment, contact the Partner Onboarding team. They will co-ordinate with the necessary teams to guide you through the steps to gain access.

Testing within the Sandpit environment will focus on an initial integration, data, and functional requirements. You will need to meet certain assurance criteria within this environment before proceeding to the AOS environment.

Following this, you’ll be granted access to the Assurance of Suppliers (AOS) environment. This environment is more representative of Production, and so further testing will assess your solution with an emphasis on non-functional requirements.

Finally you will complete Live Proving testing in the Production environment. This will confirm that the integration contract and non-functional requirements are met; covering the entire end-to-end solution, including integration, functionality, and design.

The Sandpit environment is a sandbox provided by the NHS, offering access to non-live services that you may need to integrate with, such as the NHS App, NHS login, and the Patient Care Aggregator. You will use this environment for feature development.

In this environment, you will:

• Demonstrate the look and feel of your product to ensure it aligns with the Design System prototype, which is based on the NHS digital design system and is GDS-compliant. This will be verified through a Sandpit demo and by our UI testers, who will access your environment to check the product's 'look and feel'.
• Demonstrate functional compliance by showing that your build meets the functional requirements outlined in the Solution Requirement Specification (SRS). This will also be part of the Sandpit demonstration.
• Once your build has been developed, demonstrated, and meets the required standards in the Sandpit environment, you may proceed to the Assurance of Suppliers (AOS) environment.
   

The AOS environment is similar to the Sandpit environment but offers fully integrated services that more closely resemble a production environment. You will use this environment for all feature development.

Access to AOS will be provided by the Partner Onboarding team when you have reached a suitable point in your delivery.

In the AOS environment, you will:

• Demonstrate integration contract testing for each feature you are onboarding.
• Demonstrate performance by scaling up your solution to create an architecture that represents production.
• Demonstrate end-to-end functionality to ensure your product meets the expected requirements.
• Show that the look and feel of your product continues to align with the Design System prototype.

Once your build has been developed, demoed, fully assured, and proven to meet all requirements and design standards in the AOS environment, you will need to finalise the DOS or SCAL documentation where applicable. The Partner Onboarding team will guide you through the final steps to go live.
 

Once you receive approval to go live, there are several activities you must complete before your solution is accessible to patients. For all features, ahead of go-live, you will:

• Perform a connectivity test to ensure a successful connection to your service.
• Participate in Live Service Proving to verify that the behaviour of your solution meets expectations with a controlled set of users.
   

Once these required steps are completed successfully, your service will be ready to go live and will be accessible to patients.

After going live, you will enter a short period of hypercare. During this time, the Live Service team will work with you with heightened monitoring and support to ensure that your solution operates as expected. Within hypercare there is scrutiny into every error that is reported with more in-depth investigation.

During this period, you will attend a short, daily call to discuss the service's performance and address any identified issues.

Once you have gone live and completed hypercare, you will be invited to have a retrospective with the programme, led by your Partner Onboarding team lead. During this session, you will have the opportunity to share feedback regarding your onboarding experience, highlighting lessons learned for the programme to review.