Open Data NHS Scotland API

Health / No Auth Required Beginner HTTPS

Free to Use

57 D

Metadata Score Metadata estimate · not endpoint-tested

Visit Official Site Compare Alternatives

Overview

Open Data NHS Scotland is a free public data platform maintained by Public Health Scotland, offering datasets on hospitals, patient activity, waiting times, and health statistics across Scotland. All datasets are available via a REST API with no authentication needed and can be exported as JSON or CSV. It is a great resource for researchers, journalists, and health tech developers.

Beginner Tip

Browse the dataset catalog at opendata.nhs.scot first to find the resource ID for the dataset you want, then use that ID in the /api/3/action/datastore_search endpoint.

Available Data

The kind of data this API exposes, based on its documentation. We could not call the endpoint to confirm the exact field names.

case counts and statistics

vaccination data

geographic breakdown

historical trend data

Example Response

Illustrative shape only — we were not able to call this endpoint (it requires credentials or exposes no public sample URL), so the fields below show the kind of data this API returns rather than a recorded response.

JSON Response · Illustrative

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "result": "Data from Open Data NHS Scotland",
    "description": "Medical reference data and statistics by Public Health Scotland",
    "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
  }
}

Field Reference

result Container object holding the query results and metadata.

records Array of data rows matching the query.

total Total number of records available in the dataset.

fields Schema information describing each column name and data type.

_id Auto-incremented row identifier within the datastore.

Implementation Example

Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.

Request

const url = "https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/api/3/action/datastore_search?resource_id=f1c7b8a4-4df0-4e8d-b3b3-bc4b0f0cf7f9&limit=5";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

Generated guidance based on this API's documentation, not observed by us. Treat it as a starting point and check against the provider's own error reference.

404 Not Found The resource_id does not match any published dataset

✓ Use the dataset catalog browser on opendata.nhs.scot to find the correct resource_id for your dataset.

Empty records array The filters applied return no matching rows

✓ Remove filters and start with a simple query to verify the dataset has data, then add filters gradually.

Large response / timeout Default limit is high; some datasets have hundreds of thousands of rows

✓ Always include a limit parameter (e.g., limit=100) and paginate using the offset parameter.

Metadata Score Breakdown

Estimated from metadata — endpoint not independently tested

This score is estimated from observable metadata — HTTPS support, authentication model, declared CORS, and documentation reachability — because the API requires authentication or exposes no publicly testable endpoint. The five-signal breakdown is only shown for live-tested APIs.

Metadata estimate · endpoint not independently tested

How is this scored? →