NHS Organisation Data Service API

Base URL

https://directory.spineservices.nhs.uk/ORD/2-0-0

Authentication

No API key or account for the public ODS directory. The data is published under the Open Government Licence v3, permitting reuse including commercially with attribution.

Rate limit

No published limit. NHS Digital also publishes full ODS extracts, which suit initial bulk loads better than paging the API.

Pricing

Free. Open Government Licence v3.

CORS

Enabled — callable directly from browser JavaScript

Official docs

Read the docs

Every request below was executed against the live API on 2026-08-21, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.

curl 'https://directory.spineservices.nhs.uk/ORD/2-0-0/organisations?Limit=2' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json'

const res = await fetch("https://directory.spineservices.nhs.uk/ORD/2-0-0/organisations?Limit=2", {
  headers: {
    "Accept": "application/json",
  },
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

import requests

headers = {
    "Accept": "application/json",
}

res = requests.get("https://directory.spineservices.nhs.uk/ORD/2-0-0/organisations?Limit=2", headers=headers, timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json())

{
  "Organisations": [
    {
      "Name": "CLWYD",
      "OrgId": "001",
      "Status": "Inactive",
      "OrgRecordClass": "RC1",
      "PostCode": "",
      "LastChangeDate": "2013-05-08",
      "PrimaryRoleId": "RO141",
      "PrimaryRoleDescription": "LOCAL AUTHORITY",
      "OrgLink": "https://directory.spineservices.nhs.uk/ORD/2-0-0/organisations/001"
    },
    {
      "Name": "DYFED",
      "OrgId": "002",
      "Status": "Inactive",
      "OrgRecordClass": "RC1",
      "PostCode": "",
      "LastChangeDate": "2013-05-08",
      "PrimaryRoleId": "RO141",
      "PrimaryRoleDescription": "LOCAL AUTHORITY",
      "OrgLink": "https://directory.spineservices.nhs.uk/ORD/2-0-0/organisations/002"
    }
  ]
}

Organisations[]array

The matched organisations. Summary records only — fetch the code endpoint for full detail.

Organisations[].OrgIdstring

The ODS code. Your join key to prescribing, referral and NHS activity datasets.

Organisations[].Namestring

Organisation name in the register's upper-case convention.

Organisations[].Statusstring

`Active` or `Inactive`. Historical organisations are retained deliberately.

Organisations[].OrgRecordClassstring

`RC1` for an organisation, `RC2` for a site. Sites are physical locations belonging to an organisation.

Organisations[].PrimaryRoleId / PrimaryRoleDescriptionstring

Role code and its label — the reliable way to filter by organisation type.

Organisations[].PostCodestring

Postcode, empty for some historical records.

Organisations[].LastChangeDatestring

When the record last changed. Use it for incremental sync.

Organisations[].OrgLinkstring

URL of the full record for that organisation.

• Resolve an ODS code found in NHS data to an organisation name
• List every GP practice or pharmacy in an area
• Validate organisation codes submitted through a form
• Keep a local copy of the NHS organisation register in sync
• Distinguish organisations from their individual sites