NHS number

NHS numbers are the unique numbers allocated to registered users of the three public health services in England, Wales and the Isle of Man; the three health systems use a shared numbering scheme. It is the key to the implementation of the electronic health record and its use is now compulsory in all approved NHS software.[1]

The modern style of NHS number was generally introduced in 1996, although they were allocated to every new-born baby since July 1995,[2] before becoming mandatory on 1 April 1997.[3]

It replaced the previous system founded on wartime identity card numbers which in England and Wales used letters and digits (e.g. "JRDAN 269"); Scotland used numbers based on households with individuals further identified within the household (e.g. STUV123:3), and this meant that it was hard to validate a specific number.[2] The numerical part of ID/NHS numbers allocated to persons born after the war in England and Wales matched the birth register entry number (i.e. a person whose birth was entry number xy would have an ID/NHS number in the format LLLLxy). Between 1969 and July 1995, the old-style NHS number was used on a baby's birth certificate as the reference number for the certificate.

The new format used is a ten digit number in a 3-3-4 format with the final digit being a check digit. Examples given are 943-476-5919.[4] The format includes a error detecting checksum, this is the role of 10th and final digit. Ignoring the check some the each of the first 9 digits is multiplied by 11 minus its position. For example the first digit in the number 943-476-5919 is 9 this would be multiplied by 10 and the 10th digit 1 would be multiplied by 2. The result of this calculation is summed up. In this example this yields 299. The remainder when dividing this number by 11 is calculated, 2 in this case. Finally this number is subtracted from 11 to find the checksum 9. 10 is not an acceptable value, 11 is substituted by 0.

A person gets an NHS number at birth, or when they first make contact with the NHS by registering with a GP. It comes from a record being made on the Personal Demographics Service, a national patient database.[5]

Number ranges and co-ordination with Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland's equivalent is called a CHI number; a similar system is also used in Northern Ireland with each one of the three using the same format but with non-overlapping number blocks thus preventing the issue of the same number by more than one system.

Currently issued numbers for England, Wales and the Isle of Man are from 400-000-000 to 499-999-999 and 600-000-000 to 708-800-001.[5][6] Unavailable number ranges include 320 000 001 to 399 999 999 (allocated to the Northern Ireland system) and those used for CHI numbers in Scotland. If a patient moves out of the area of England, Wales and the Isle of Man to Northern Ireland or Scotland they will be allocated a number appropriate to one of those systems but if they return they will revert to their original number.

See also

References

  1. ↑ GP Systems "GP Systems of Choice" Check |url= value (help). Health and Social Care Information Centre. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 Julian M. Jenkins (1996). "Application of Information Technology to Medicine: NHS-wide networking". St. Michael's Hospital, Bristol: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Bristol. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  3. ↑ "08/2000 - Commissioning Data Sets (CDSs) i) Enhancement to functionality: HRGs and other changes ii) alignment with CMDSs" (PDF). Information Standards Board for Health and Social Care. October 2000. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  4. ↑ "The NHS Number". NHS Choices. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  5. 1 2 "NHS Number: Your Unique Patient Identifier Fact Sheet for NHS Staff" (PDF). NHS Connecting for Health. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  6. ↑ "Systems: NHS Number". Health and Social Care Information Centre. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
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