NHS Digital has announced it will move to Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards for transfers of care to make sure provider systems can comply with the requirement to send structured, coded discharge summaries from hospital to GPs by October 2018.

FHIR is a technical messaging standard specifically designed to support interoperability. It has become the international industry standard for transfers of care.

NHS Digital has published some “work in progress” Transfer of Care FHIR specifications, which are available for download:

• eDischarge (inpatient and day case)
• Mental Health
• Emergency Care