Citizen Identity project re-branded as NHS Login

NHS England’s flagship single login process, Citizen Identity, has been re-branded as NHS login.

The service is intended to make it possible to use a single login to access digital health and care services. The idea is also to ensure individuals only have to verify their identity once to gain access to a range of services.

Speaking in a YouTube video (see below), NHS Digital’s Adam Lewis – the programme’s director – explained the verification process will involve submitting a photo of an identity document.

Users will then be asked to submit a short video of themselves, which will be compared with the document photo to confirm identity.

One of the first services to NHS login will be the NHS App, which was launched to private beta testers across England in September.

Lewis said: “The first service that will get to use it [NHS Login] is the NHS App and there’ll be a number of pilot sites in the coming months.

“From December this year we will be rolling that [the NHS App] out on a region by region basis across England.”

Lewis added it won’t just be the NHS App using NHS login, with other services demonstrating interest. He said “demand has been much more significant than we ever thought it would be”.

In a blog post, Lewis confirms there have been “80 expressions of interest from digital health services that want to use the NHS login”.

This includes locally developed NHS portals, specialist app providers and also whole health regions.

NHS Digital had initially aimed for Citizen Identity to be live by October 2017, but the launch has been repeatedly pushed back.

Juliet Bauer alluded to the delays in a speech at May’s UK eHealth Week, saying “it’s very challenging to get right, and we’re going at the pace we feel is right”.

In the same speech, NHS England’s chief digital officer promised the first services to test Citizen Identity would be available “in the next couple of weeks”.