Environments and access

This section describes the available integration environments, how to request access, and how authentication and configuration differ between them.

It should be read before beginning development or onboarding to any journey described in this documentation.

Environments overview

The platform is available in the following environments:

Environment	Purpose	External Access	Data Characteristics
Sandbox	Early experimentation and prototyping	Open	Synthetic test data
Integration	System-to-system integration testing	Controlled - contact us for access	Representative test data
Production	Live operational use	Restricted through digital onboarding service (DOS) approval	Live patient data

Services

The following services comprise the National Proxy Service.

Service	Description	Specs, status & onboarding
Proxy Application Service (PAS)	Digital application form available through the NHS app	In pilot
Validated Relationships Service (VRS)	FHIR API for access request and proxy role management	VRS API Catalogue page