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DTAC, DCB0129 and DSPT, explained for practice managers.

Gateway Global, the makers of Prime Assist · A five-minute read · Last reviewed:

Every supplier pitching digital tools to your practice will wave acronyms at you. Here is what the three that matter actually mean, in the order your ICB will ask about them.Note 1: general information

DTAC: the entry ticket

The Digital Technology Assessment Criteria is the NHS's baseline check for digital health tools. It bundles five assessments into one: clinical safety, data protection, technical security, interoperability, and usability and accessibility. It is not a certificate a supplier wins once and frames. It is a pack of evidence your commissioners can read. When a supplier says "DTAC ready", the useful follow-up is: send me the pack. A serious supplier sends it the same day.

NHS England refreshed the DTAC form and its guidance in March 2026, with fewer questions and less overlap with the DSPT and the pre-acquisition questionnaire, and the earlier form has not been used since 6 April 2026. The five areas remain, and usability and accessibility is no longer scored. Reviews of DCB0129 and DCB0160 are under way, so check you are reading the current version.Note 2: sources on the DTAC

DCB0129: the safety case

DCB0129 is the clinical risk management standard for manufacturers of health IT. Complying with it means the supplier maintains a clinical safety case and a hazard log, and, crucially, employs a named Clinical Safety Officer: a registered clinician trained in clinical risk management who signs off the clinical safety case. For anything that speaks to patients, this is the difference between a general-purpose bot and a system engineered for healthcare. Ask for the CSO's name. If there is no name, there is no standard.

DSPT: the annual data promise

The Data Security and Protection Toolkit is the NHS's yearly self-assessment against the National Data Guardian's standards. Suppliers who touch patient data publish their status on a public register, which means you can check it yourself in two minutes rather than taking a slide's word for it.

If you run a GP practice, NHS England’s advice to practices on virtual (AI) receptionists, which NHS North East London shared with its practices on 26 February 2026, adds its own checks: that the supplier meets DTAC and DCB0129, that call recordings are handled to standards including ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials, and how call-forwarding charges, national call reporting and business continuity will work alongside your telephony contract.

Four questions to ask any supplier

Four questions sort the credible from the confident: Can I see your DTAC pack? Who is your named Clinical Safety Officer? What is your DSPT status on the register? And where, by contract, does patient data live? Our own answers: Prime Assist has a clinical safety case under DCB0129, signed off by our Clinical Safety Officer, Dr Humzah Jessa. We have completed the DTAC and submitted the DSPT, we hold Cyber Essentials certification, and we share the evidence for all three with buyers on request. We do not claim ISO 27001 or any other certification. Your processing region, UK or EU, is committed by contract, and the detail is on our trust page. Ask on your demo for the documents we can share, and we will tell you plainly what is complete and what is not. Read how this applies to GP practices and dental practices.

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Notes

  1. This guide is general information for practice managers, not legal or regulatory advice. Back to text, note 1
  2. Sources: NHS England’s DTAC guidance, the NHS Innovation Service announcement of the updated form and the DSPT. Back to text, note 2
  3. New customer offer: 12 months for the price of 9. When you sign, you commit to all 12 months, starting on the day you go live. Months 1 to 3 are free, then you pay your bundle price each month for months 4 to 12, from £150 including VAT (£125 plus VAT), with the price before VAT fixed for your 12 months. On 500 minutes, the bundle for your 12 months costs £1,350 including VAT (£1,125 plus VAT), plus any extra minutes, at 36p a minute including VAT (30p plus VAT) in every month, free months included. For new customers, switchers included, once per customer. A new customer is a practice or business that has not used Prime Assist in the 24 months before it signs. Switching? We do the switch, and a notice period of up to three months runs alongside your free months. Full terms on our pricing page. Back to text, note 3