UK Health Intelligence API — CQC Ratings, Prescribing Data & Health Indicators
NHS Digital and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) publish thousands of health datasets. But there is no single API that combines population health indicators with care quality ratings and prescribing data. Pharma companies, health tech startups, and public health researchers must separately query OHID Fingertips for health outcomes, the CQC API for care provider ratings, and OpenPrescribing for medication data. The Health Intelligence endpoint unifies all three into a single postcode-level profile — the health equivalent of a credit score for an area.
What You Get
- •Health indicators: male and female life expectancy, obesity prevalence, smoking prevalence for the local authority
- •Care providers: nearby CQC-rated providers with name, type (GP, hospital, care home, dentist), and overall rating
- •Prescribing: count of GP practices in the area (full depth adds top prescribed items, total prescribing cost)
- •Location context: resolved postcode and local authority
Data Sources
OHID Fingertips
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes 1,700+ public health indicators via the Fingertips platform. Life expectancy, disease prevalence, lifestyle risk factors (obesity, smoking, physical inactivity), mental health indicators, and wider determinants of health. Data available at local authority, CCG, and ward level.
Care Quality Commission (CQC)
The independent regulator of health and social care in England. Inspects and rates 30,000+ providers including GP practices, hospitals, care homes, dental practices, and mental health services. Ratings: Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, Inadequate.
OpenPrescribing
Every prescription dispensed by every GP practice in England, published monthly. Contains 1 billion+ rows covering medication name, quantity, and cost. Enables analysis of prescribing patterns, generic vs branded prescribing rates, and medication spend by area.
Use Cases
Pharmaceutical Market Access
Pharma companies launching medications need to identify areas with high prevalence of the target condition. The health indicators reveal which local authorities have the highest obesity rates, smoking prevalence, or disease burden. Prescribing data shows current treatment patterns and market size for a therapeutic area.
Health Tech Product Development
Digital health startups building condition management apps need to size their market by geography. The Health endpoint provides prevalence data by area, care provider density, and prescribing volumes — the fundamentals for a go-to-market strategy in NHS-adjacent markets.
Care Home Investment
Investors evaluating care home acquisitions need local health context. An area with high elderly population, limited CQC-rated provision, and low life expectancy indicates both demand and need for quality improvement — an investment opportunity for operators committed to better ratings.
Public Health Research
Academics and public health consultants studying health inequalities need area-level data across multiple domains. The endpoint combines mortality (life expectancy), morbidity (disease prevalence), lifestyle (smoking, obesity), and service quality (CQC ratings) into a single query.
Example
Request
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ "https://www.ukdatapi.com/api/v1/health/LS1%204AP?depth=standard"
Response
{
"data": {
"location": { "postcode": "LS1 4AP", "local_authority": "Leeds" },
"indicators": { "life_expectancy_male": 78.2, "life_expectancy_female": 82.1, "obesity_pct": 28.3, "smoking_pct": 14.8 },
"care_providers": [
{ "name": "Leeds General Infirmary", "type": "hospital", "rating": "Good" },
{ "name": "City Centre Medical Practice", "type": "gp", "rating": "Outstanding" }
],
"prescribing": { "practices_nearby": 12 }
}
}Pricing
| Depth | Credits |
|---|---|
| Summary | 4 |
| Standard | 12 |
| Full | 24 |
Related Endpoints
GET /api/v1/location/{postcode}
UK Postcode Intelligence API
Profile any UK postcode: crime rates, flood risk, food hygiene, demographics, earnings, health indicators. 7 government sources in one call.
GET /api/v1/environment/{postcode}
UK Environmental Risk API
Environmental due diligence API: flood risk, ground stability, shrink-swell clay, radon, water quality, and composite Environmental Risk Score. Replaces £20-50 Landmark searches.
GET /api/v1/education/{postcode}
UK Schools & Education API
Find schools near any UK postcode: Ofsted ratings, school type, phase, pupil counts. Catchment analysis API for property platforms and relocation tools.