NHS, CHI and H&C Numbers
The NHS number, CHI number (Scotland only) and H&C number (Northern Ireland only) can be entered on the Registration - Personal Details (initial) screen when adding a patient, but are not mandatory entries, though they must be added at a later stage.
NHS Number
If known, the NHS number should be entered in NHS No in one of the following formats:
- nnn nnn nnnn, or
- nnnnnnnnnn
Where n is a number. If not entered correctly, the NHS Number is not valid message displays:
On Registration of a patient, you can leave the NHS number blank in England & Wales, but if it is not entered, you must enter a place of birth later in the registration process.
If you leave the NHS number blank and finish the registration, the registration remains incomplete until it is entered, see Incomplete Registrations.
For children under five, the NHS number is mandatory and if not entered, will show as Incomplete RegLinks and Incomplete Details, even if all other fields are correct.
For practices in Scotland and Northern Ireland, including the NHS number is not mandatory.
Amending the NHS Number
For Registration Links practices, NHS numbers for existing patients cannot be amended by the GP Practice, only by the TP. If the electronic link is faulty and not working, and the practice do have to make an NHS Number alteration, the user designated as the system manager can use the Amend NHS No. option in Security (England and Wales only). The practice may enter an NHS No if it was previously blank.
Old NHS No.
The old NHS Number can be stored on the patient's Registration – Personal screen in Old Format NHSNo for practices in England and Wales. If you do not know the new NHS number, enter the patient's old NHS number in the NHS No. field.
If the patient only has one NHS number, be it old or new, this is stored in the NHS No. field, and the Old Format NHS No. field is not shown.
The old NHS Number can however be stored on the patient's Registration – Personal screen in Old Format NHS No.
An NHS number can only be changed directly by practices that are non-Registration linked or if the link is down. In this case, if the patient has an old format NHS number in the NHS No. field, you can overtype this with their new NHS number in NHS No. As you do so, a new Old Format NHS No. field is created on Registration – Personal and their old format number moved over to this automatically.
Registration Details displaying old and new NHS No
NHS numberin Scotland - The inclusion of the NHS number is not mandatory in Scotland, but should be entered if known. No query NHS number should be used. The format of the NHS number is not validated but the characters used within it are, and it must be unique. The NHS number can be amended, regardless of link status; no Amendment Transaction is generated for linked practices. There is no Security – Amend NHS Number option in a Vision Registration for a Scottish practice.
