Why is the NHS Number important to me?

by Vidit Agarwal Marketing Director

Your NHS Number an important step towards improving the safety of your healthcare.

What is NHS Number?

Everyone registered with the NHS in England, Wales has a unique patient identifier called NHS Number, this is allocated to you at the time of birth to helps healthcare staff and service providers identify you correctly and match your details to your health records.

Each NHS Number is normally made up of 10 digits formats in a 3-3-4, usually as follows 943 476 5919 (example only). This was validated in 1996 and replaced different versions that included both letters and numbers. Your NHS number is unique to you.

How can I find out my NHS number?

You can find your NHS number on any document received from NHS, including hospital referral, test results, printed prescriptions or appointment letters. If you are unable to find your NHS number, you can ask to GP practice to look it up for you. Anyone who has registered with a GB practice will be able to provide the NHS number for you as long as you are registered with them. When you will register with GB practice, they will verify whether have you an NHS Number of not, if not they will provide you. You need to show your proof id like driving license or passport to retrieve your NHS number from GB practice. If you don’t know your NHS Number you can:

If registered, contact your GP practice
If you not registered - to find your local PCT visit the NHS Choices website or you can call NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

For any further information about the NHS number, you can explore here what is NHS Number.

Not to be confused with your National Insurance (NI) number, your NI number has to do with identifying what tax code you are on in the UK.