Healthy Child Programme
Facilitates the sharing of standardised data between health care providers, parent(s) and carer(s) for all children.
Contents
- Documentation
About this standard
- Publisher
- NHS England
- Also known as
- Healthy Child Programme, Phase 2.2 (HT1)
- Reference code
- DAPB3009 Amd 56/2024
- Publication date
- 6 May 2025
- Publication version
- 2.2.0
- Status
- Active
Show definitions of statuses
Active. Active standards are stable, maintained and have been approved, assured or endorsed for use by qualified bodies.
Deprecated Deprecated standards are available for use and are maintained, but are being phased out, so new functionality will not be added.
Retired standards Retired standards are not being maintained or supported and should not be used.
- Standard type
- Information standards
Show definitions of standard types
Collections. A Collection is a systematic gathering of a specified selection of data or information for a particular stated purpose from existing records held within health and care systems and electronic devices.
Extractions. An extraction is a type of collection that is pulled from an operational system by the data controller and transmitted to the receiver without additional processing or transcription by the sender.
Information standards. Information standards are agreed ways of doing something, written down as a set of precise criteria so they can be used as rules, guidelines, or definitions.
Technical Standards and specifications. Technical standards and specifications specify how to make information available technically including how the data is structured and transported.
- Contact point
nationalservicedesk@nhs.net
Using this standard
The Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) were commissioned by NHS England to develop the following set of resources. These have been migrated into the NHS Standards Directory and will be managed by NHS England from 01 January 2026.
- Associated medias
- Describes the purpose, methodology and stakeholder engagement for developing the standard, along with the findings and recommendations for further work.
- Summarises the hazards which could result from implementing the standard.
- Summarises the hazards which could result from implementing the standard.
- Includes detailed guidance, specific to the Healthy Child Programme Standard.
- Applies to
- Primary Care services
- Child Health organisations
- Community services
- School Nursing services
- Maternity services
- Health Visiting services
- Screening Laboratories
- All organisations providing NHS England commissioned immunisation services for children
- Impacts on
- Impacted health IT systems include: clinical systems in general practice and primary care child health information systems health visiting and school nursing systems immunisation systems DPCHR systems/eRedbooks. Implementation of this information standard impacts all health IT systems suppliers providing systems to the above providers; suppliers should work with their customers to determine necessary changes.
- Effective from
- 6 May 2025
Topics and care settings
- Topic
- Care records
- Child
- Interoperability
- Key care information
- Care setting
- Community health
- GP / Primary care
- Maternity
- School
Dependencies and related standards
- Dependencies
- Core Information standard
- Dictionary of Medicines and DevicesSCCI0052
- SNOMED CTSCCI0034
- Related standards
Review Information
- Scope
- Health Services, NHS Services
- Sponsor
Harrison Carter, Director of Screening, NHS England
- Senior Responsible Officer
Andrew Rostron, Deputy Director of Screening (Antenatal, Newborn and CHIS)
- Business Lead
- Jane Hibbert, Newborn Screening Development Lead, NHS England
- Contributor
- Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB)
- Approval date
- 15 April 2025
- Technical Committee
Data Assurance Board (DAB)
Legal basis
- Link to Information Standards Notice (ISN)
- View the information standards notice
Information Standards Notices (ISNs) are published to announce new or changes to information standards published under section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012
- Legal authority
Section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012
This information standard is published under section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012
- Licence information
NHS England permits the copying and re-use of Information Standards, in whole or in part, for commercial and non-commercial purposes but, to protect the integrity of the Information Standards, you are not permitted to adapt, amend or decompile the Information Standards for any purpose without our prior consent.
- Licence
Crown Copyright https://digital.nhs.uk/about-nhs-digital/terms-and-conditions
More information
A standard for child health records to support the Healthy Child Programme and its prevention agenda. This innovative standard helps everyone involved in caring for children to share information using standardised paperless digital records. It aims to streamline the sharing of critical health information, ultimately enhancing the efficiency and quality of care for children across various health services.
About this standardThe Healthy Child Record Standard outlines what information on screening tests, immunisations, and developmental milestones should be accessible to make sure that children receive appropriate care. The goal is that everyone involved in a child’s care, including parents, will in the future have secure access to a standardised set of paperless, digital child health records.
Whilst the focus has been the Healthy Child Programme, the information models developed may support recording for other purposes within a child health record. The standard also provides a foundation for digital personal child health records, using new infrastructure and messaging to provide interoperability for digital personal child health records (DPCHR). The aim being to supplement or replace paper Redbooks, making it easier for families to hold online records for their children and access them via smartphones, laptops and tablets.
ScopeThe Healthy Child Record standard covers, at a summary level, the scope of the Healthy Child Programme and the Personal Child Health Record. This standard applies to the following key groups and organisations that provide health care and services to children:
- Primary Care services
- Child Health organisations
- Community services
- School Nursing services
- Maternity services
- Health Visiting services
- Screening Laboratories
- All organisations providing NHS England and NHS Improvement commissioned immunisation services for children.
The following areas are out of scope and have not been considered as a part of this project:
- Maternal drugs in pregnancy (which may affect the baby)
- Concealed pregnancies
- Care plans
- Other birth related procedures and issues (water births, induction, delayed cord clamping, still births)
Page last updated: 18 December 2025