UK NHS Number Regex for Go

What this pattern does

This page provides a well-structured, multi-part regular expression for matching uk nhs number, ported and verified for Go. Identity and credential patterns need both correctness and safety, since they're frequent targets for adversarial input. The snippet below is ready to drop into your Go project — whether you're validating in a Gin handler, a gRPC service, or a command-line tool.

Go Implementation

// UK NHS Number
// ReDoS-safe | RegexVault — Identity & PII > Health Identifiers

package validation

import "regexp"

var ukNhsNumberRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^([0-9]{3})[\s-]?([0-9]{3})[\s-]?([0-9]{4})$`)

func ValidateUkNhsNumber(s string) bool {
    return ukNhsNumberRe.MatchString(s)
}

// Example
// fmt.Println(ValidateUkNhsNumber("943 476 5919")) // true

Test Cases

When to use this pattern

This pattern is drawn from the Identity & PII > Health Identifiers category and carries a ReDoS-safe certification. That matters for Go developers because Go's RE2 engine is inherently safe from catastrophic backtracking, but this pattern has been additionally verified for correctness. RegexVault audits patterns against known backtracking attack vectors, ensuring you have the necessary context before using this regex in a high-stakes production environment.

Common Pitfalls

Technical Notes

The NHS number is 10 digits. The 10th digit is a check digit using a modulus 11 algorithm (weights 10-2). If the weighted sum's remainder is 0, the check digit is 0; if it's 1, the number is invalid; otherwise check digit = 11 - remainder.