Using the PDS MESH service with the MESH user interface

PDS MESH, formerly known as the Master Patient Trace (MPT) service, allows you submit partial details of a patient's demographic information and receive the full set of information held for that patient.

PDS MESH searches the Personal Demographic Service (PDS) for these patient details using the MESH user interface (MESH UI). The MESH UI is a browser-based interface that requires no software installation, designed for non-technical users.

This page describes PDS MESH that replaces the existing MPT product, which is no longer available for new users.

This page explains how to:

• request PDS access

• access the MESH UI and your MESH mailbox

• create a file containing the trace request

• send the trace request to PDS

• download the trace request response

• troubleshoot any problems

Request PDS access

Before you can access PDS, you must complete a PDS access request form describing your purpose and use case, and get it approved.

Access the MESH UI

Once you have approved PDS access, you need a MESH mailbox. To get a mailbox, use the MESH mailbox request form and specify under 'Your data usage' that the mailbox needs to be an 'Initiator of the workflow group "Master Patient Tracing System"'.

Once you have a MESH mailbox, you can access the MESH UI, with either a Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) connection or via the internet:

• HSCN connection - use a smartcard connected to HSCN.

• internet - use your PIN number and a one-time passcode - you must have an email address that ends with @nhs.net, @nhs.uk or @gov.uk.

Access the Master Patient Tracing service as follows:

• HSCN connection - go to the Spine Portal and choose the “Launch MESH User Interface” option 

• internet - go to https://portal.spineservices.nhs.uk/meshui

Your MESH UI mailbox appears which looks something like this:

Your trace request must be in the form of a comma separated value (CSV) file prepared with Microsoft Excel or similar.

You must name the CSV file with the following naming convention:

MPTREQ_CCYYMMDDHHMISS.csv

where

• MPTREQ_ means it’s a PDS MESH request

• CCYYMMDDHHMISS is the timestamp of the request - CCYY is the year, MM the month, DD the day, HH the hour, MI the minute and SS the second

• .csv is the file extension

For the full structure of the request file and the response file, see PDS MESH.

Create a new message and fill in the fields as follows:

• for ‘Select Message Type’, choose ‘Master Patient Tracing Service (SPINE_PDS_MESH_V1)

• for ‘To’, choose ‘INTERNAL SPINE - INTERNAL SPINE’

• for ‘Attach a document’, select the CSV file for your trace request 

• click the Submit button to send your trace request

Check your MESH inbox for replies. Press F5 to refresh your inbox display.

Once you receive a reply in your MESH inbox, click on the download button next to the message to save the file to your local machine. 

The response file is named RESP_ followed by the name of your original CSV trace request file.

To interpret all the values in a trace request response, see the data dictionary.

For example, a single patient CSV response file looks like this: