FOI – 2025-3145 Digital Identity Systems (HTML)

Date received – 17 October 2025 | Date responded – 14 November 2025

Request

Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I would like to request the following information:

1. Details of all funding allocations, grants, or budgets related to the development, maintenance, or implementation of any digital identity systems, including (but not limited to) systems used for:

• Patient access or verification (such as the NHS Scotland Login or digital health records)
• Integration with vaccination records or health data platforms
• Any pilot projects or partnerships related to digital identity infrastructure

2. A list of contracts, suppliers, or third-party organisations (including technology companies or consultants) involved in any such projects, along with:

• The contract value
• The duration and start/end dates
• A brief description of the project or service provided

3. If available, please include relevant documents, memoranda, or communications outlining the long-term plan or strategy for digital identity systems within NHS Scotland.

I am requesting information covering the period from 2010 to the present.

Response

I refer to your freedom of information request that we received on 17 October 2025 requesting the following information.

We have now completed the search of our records and can provide you with the following information:

Details of all funding allocations, grants, or budgets related to the development, maintenance, or implementation of any digital identity systems, including (but not limited to) systems used for:

• Patient access or verification (such as the NHS Scotland Login or digital health records)
• Integration with vaccination records or health data platforms
• Any pilot projects or partnerships related to digital identity infrastructure

Under Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act, 2002 (FOISA) an organisation does not have to provide that information if it does not hold it. NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) have not been given any funding allocation or budget for any digital identity systems for patient access or verification to digital health records or integrations with other data platforms. Authenticated patient access for vaccination records are native to the product with no integration to external or third-party authentication providers.

NSS do not currently have any pilot projects or partnerships related to digital identity infrastructure. During the pandemic period, NSS, on behalf of Scottish Government (SG), had partnerships with Microsoft and Jumio to ensure authentication and verification for the COVID certification service for domestic use and border control, linked to the EU COVID digital certification service. This service has since been decommissioned.

A list of contracts, suppliers, or third-party organisations (including technology companies or consultants) involved in any such projects, along with:

• The contract value
• The duration and start/end dates
• A brief description of the project or service provided

Under Section 17(1) of FOISA an organisation does not have to provide that information if it does not hold it. NSS does not hold the requested information. Please refer to Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) where all information has been previously published in relation to awarded contracts, contract values, duration and descriptions of services.

If available, please include relevant documents, memoranda, or communications outlining the long-term plan or strategy for digital identity systems within NHS Scotland.

Under Section 17(1) of FOISA an organisation does not have to provide that information if it does not hold it. NSS does not hold the requested information. Please refer to the Scottish Government Digital Identity Scotland Strategy for Health and Social Care.

You may also wish to contact SG using the following email address; contactus@gov.scot who can provide you with more information in relation to your above request.

I trust you will find the information of assistance and if you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of how we have dealt with your request, you can make representations to us asking us to review the handling of your request.

If you require any further information, please contact the Associate Director Governance and Board Services (Board Secretary) within 40 working days of the date of this correspondence.

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