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National Imaging Registry (NIR) Functional Capabilities

The current and future functional capabilities of the National Imaging Registry (NIR), including how cross‑organisation imaging records can be discovered and retrieved, and where the service has limitations.

Page contents

Current functional capabilities

Cross-organisation document discovery (XCA)

Feature title: Cross-organisation document discovery (XCA)

  • Search for imaging data across other systems connected to NIR for a given patient providing a valid NHS number. 
  • Search for imaging data across other systems connected to NIR for a given patient providing a valid NHS number, excluding consumer results.

Feature description: 

A search can be:

  • Federated across all connected systems
  • Restricted to one to many networks by their home community id
  • Restricted to a specific timeframe to only include documents created in the given period

A search must be:

  • For a valid patient NHS number
  • For documents with the “Approved” availability status

Search results will contain the aggregated results from all downstream connected systems. Both successful and failed searches will be reported, with consolidated error codes for readability.

An exclusion:

If you are connected as both a producing and consuming system, performing a federated search, then the Home Community ID that made that search is filtered out by default. Such that, only external matches are returned.

Feature outcomes:

  • A clinician wants to see what is available for a patient in NIR overall (Must have)
  • A clinician wants to see what is available for a patient in NIR provided by a specific network or trust (as specified)(Should have)
  • A clinician wants to see what is available for a patient in NIR within a specified date range (if specified)(Should have)
  • A clinician wants to see what is available for a patient in NIR, exclusively in external systems. (Must have)

Additional information: 

Cross-organisation document and image retrieval (XCA)

Feature title: Cross-organisation document and image retrieval (XCA)

  • Retrieve imaging reports from other systems connected to NIR
  • Retrieve imaging data from other systems connected to NIR

Feature description: 

A document/report download must be:

  • Requested using home community id, repository id and document id
  • For a document/report discovered as part of a search via NIR

A document/report download cannot be:

  • Scheduled or prioritised
  • “Streamed” from the source

Imaging data referenced by a KOS object retrieved by NIR can be downloaded to the local system.

An imaging data download must be:

  • Requested using home community id, repository id, document id, series id and study id
  • For images referenced by a KOS object retrieved via NIR

An imaging data download cannot be:

  • Scheduled or prioritised etc
  • “Streamed” from the source

Feature outcomes:

  • A clinician finds a report in NIR they want to retrieve, using NIR they retrieve that report. (Could have)
  • A clinician finds a report in NIR with an image available, using NIR they retrieve that image. (Could have)

Additional information: 

Testing functional capabilities of NIR

For networks and trust integrating with NIR: 

  • Your supplier(s) test against the NIR platform and get a technical conformance certificate.
  • You as an organisation test against your supplier's implementation of NIR for the version you use.
  • i.e. How suppliers choose to display information in the user interface may differ depending on the supplier, the version of the system you use, the framework they implement against and other factors which are left open to the suppliers/orgs to resolve in terms of expected behaviour.
  • NIR processes existing information, as such, we send the data, but don't validate the clinical workflow beyond a transactional level, instead this is covered as part of your onboarding process.
  • For each capability, please test success and failure scenarios accordingly, noting that how errors are presented may differ depending on your supplier and version. 

Future functional capabilities

Confirmed future capabilities

  • Imaging Study Image Retrieval
  • Modern standards based Search and Retrieval
  • Modern Web based Image Retrieval
  • Central National Registry Index
  • Direct Registration by Producing Systems
  • Legacy Repository Integration

What NIR does not do

Replace PACS or RIS systems

  • NIR is a cross-boundary registry, not an operational workflow engine. Replacing local PACS/RIS would require an impossible level of customisation for every individual hospital or clinic. Instead, NIR sits on top of these existing networks, acting as a bridge so they can communicate with one another.

Act as a clinical viewer

  • NIR provides the secure data plumbing to locate and fetch imaging histories, but it doesn't render the final pixels on a screen. By remaining "viewer-agnostic," NIR pipes the retrieved data directly into the clinician’s existing, already-approved local viewing software or Electronic Health Record (EHR) interface.

Store imaging centrally

  • NIR utilises a federated data model. It only stores a lightweight index of metadata pointing to where an image lives. When a doctor needs to see a scan from another hospital, NIR locates it and facilitates a secure transfer in real time, leaving the heavy files safely anchored at their original source

Change diagnostic workflows

  • NIR is built to be essentially invisible to the end user, integrating quietly via background APIs. The workflow remains identical to what the clinician is used to; they simply gain the ability to see external historical scans pop up right inside their native local worklists.

Modify images or reports

  • NIR operates strictly as a read-only at this point in time. It fetches historical records exactly as they were authorised by the originating facility. Any further annotations, new secondary reports, or adjustments must happen within local systems, leaving the historical record unaltered.

Make clinical decisions

  • It does not interpret data, flag anomalies, or offer diagnostic suggestions. Its sole job is to ensure the right historical data is available to the clinician at the point of care. The clinical evaluation, risk assessment, and ultimate decision-making remain entirely the responsibility of the human medical professional

Current user-relevant limitations

  • Only connected organisations’ data is discoverable
  • Viewer behaviour depends on supplier integration
  • Some systems support document discovery before full image retrieval
  • Coverage increases as onboarding expands
  • Performance depends partly on source system responsiveness

Key Knowledge Artefacts

Functional capability catalogue (PDF)

PDF copy of NIR functional capabilities that can be downloaded, shared and annotated on.

Last edited: 21 July 2026 10:07 am