---
id: healthcare-nhs-design-en
service: NHS
website: https://www.nhs.uk
category: healthcare
document: DESIGN.MD
source_prompt: healthcare-nhs-representative-en
language: en
generated: 2026-07-18
---

# NHS DESIGN.MD

> Use this DESIGN.MD as the persistent design standard before building a Healthcare site or app. It can be given directly to designers, frontend engineers, AI builders, and coding agents. NHS is an information-architecture reference only.

## Purpose

- NHS: https://www.nhs.uk
- Healthcare: health information and access to care
- patients, appointments, and records
- privacy, plain language, and urgency
- portal

## Design brief

Create an original product that supports health information and access to care. Make patients, appointments, and records easy to scan, compare, and act on. Treat privacy, plain language, and urgency as a primary design constraint. Starting direction: service-finder portal · calm and trustworthy · medium information density · service search -> contextual guidance -> step-by-step completion -> help · #005EB8 · NHS.

## Public interface design analysis

- Reference basis: These are recurring visual and structural patterns from public landing screens and representative task flows. Verify the current live capture because services change over time.
- Interface archetype: service-finder portal
- Tone and manner: calm and trustworthy
- Information density: medium
- Color strategy: restrained brand accents on neutral surfaces (#005EB8)
- Navigation model: lightweight top navigation
- Structural sequence: service search -> contextual guidance -> step-by-step completion -> help
- Reusable patterns: hero search, service card, step guide, help entry, trust metadata
- Independent application rule: Use the order and decision principles only. Do not reproduce logos, copy, imagery, icons, or proprietary screen composition.

## Screen architecture

- Global navigation with clear current location and account state
- Overview that exposes the next important action for patients, appointments, and records
- Search, filter, sort, or segmented views only where they reduce decision cost
- Detail view that keeps context, status, evidence, and the primary action together
- Persistent help, recovery, privacy, and safety access for privacy, plain language, and urgency

## Design tokens

```css
:root {
  --color-primary: #005EB8;
  --color-ink: #17201D;
  --color-canvas: #F6F8F7;
  --color-surface: #FFFFFF;
  --color-tint: #005EB822;
  --color-danger: #DC2626;
  --radius-control: 6px;
  --radius-card: 8px;
  --space-1: 4px; --space-2: 8px; --space-3: 12px;
  --space-4: 16px; --space-6: 24px; --space-8: 32px;
  --content-reading: 720px;
  --content-wide: 1280px;
}
```

## Component specifications

- Navigation: active, hover, focus, disabled, and collapsed states
- Cards and rows: stable dimensions, realistic content, metadata hierarchy, and complete click targets
- Forms: labels, descriptions, validation, error summary, progress, and recovery
- Actions: one clear primary action per region; icon buttons require accessible names and tooltips
- Feedback: inline status, toast, banner, skeleton, progress, confirmation, and destructive-action dialog

## State design

For every data-driven region, define loading, empty, partial-data, stale, error, offline, permission-denied, disabled, saving, and success states. Keep layout dimensions stable so state changes do not shift surrounding content.

## Responsive rules

- 360px: one primary column, no horizontal page scroll, 44px touch targets
- 768px: preserve context with two panes only when each pane remains readable
- 1280px and above: constrain reading width and use extra space for comparison or persistent context
- Never scale type with viewport width; wrap long labels and localize for text expansion

## Accessibility requirements

- Semantic landmarks and heading order
- Complete keyboard operation with visible focus
- WCAG AA contrast in all states
- Programmatic labels, descriptions, errors, and live regions
- 200% zoom, reduced motion, forced colors, and screen-reader verification

## Design instruction for AI builders

```text
Design an original Healthcare interface for [Product name]. Its goal is health information and access to care; its core objects are patients, appointments, and records; its critical risk is privacy, plain language, and urgency. Use the token system and screen rules in this document. Specify realistic content, component contracts, all data states, responsive behavior, accessibility, and acceptance criteria. Do not copy NHS's logo, proprietary copy, images, or exact layout.
```

## Completion checklist

- [ ] The critical path for health information and access to care is obvious without explanation
- [ ] patients, appointments, and records have clear hierarchy, status, and actions
- [ ] privacy, plain language, and urgency has prevention and recovery
- [ ] Mobile, tablet, desktop, keyboard, screen reader, zoom, and reduced motion are verified
- [ ] Loading, empty, error, offline, partial, permission, and success states are complete
- [ ] No protected brand asset or pixel-level layout from NHS is reproduced