Using the RCPCH NHS Organisations resource

Using the API for Research/Audit

RCPCH NHS Organisations is an online service providing NHS organisational information.

RCPCH NHS Organisations data is not published as spreadsheets, but instead as JSON. This is because the primary function is to supply information to other applications the RCPCH build and host. For example, the list of acute hospitals in England and Wales held serves the Epilepsy12 and NPDA audits RCPCH has built.

To interrogate the API, one can either navigate the browsable API, or use the Open API Specification to view the data. The Open API browser accepts parameters to filter searches.

Postman

Software developers typically use Postman to interact with and test APIs. A researcher can use Postman through their web browser or download it onto their computer. There are good tutorials and explainers on APIs and Postman here.

Microsoft Excel

Future resource

The primary aim for RCPCH NHS Organisations is to provide a single source of standardised resources to support the software projects RCPCH produce. A secondary aim, however, is to curate lists of organisations and their relationships for all interested in child health to use, either in research or audit, or in the development of software whose main goal is improve child health.