[GPCAPIM-395]: Update environment configuration for testing

- Change the Python environment file path for pytest runs
- Load repository-level test environment variables for VS Code

Author: DWolfsNHS

.vscode/settings.json

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
   "gitlens.ai.enabled": false,
   "python.testing.unittestEnabled": false,
   "python.testing.pytestEnabled": true,
-  "python.envFile": "${workspaceFolder}/.env.test",
+  "python.envFile": "${workspaceFolder}/.env",
   "git.enableCommitSigning": true,
   "sonarlint.connectedMode.project": {
     "connectionId": "nhsdigital",

gateway-api/tests/conftest.py

@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@
 import os
 from collections.abc import Callable
 from datetime import timedelta
+from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, cast
 
 import pytest
 import requests
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from fhir.constants import FHIRSystem
 
 DEFAULT_REQUEST_HEADERS = {
@@ -17,6 +19,16 @@
 }
 
 
+def _load_test_env_file() -> None:
+    """Load repository-level test env vars for VS Code pytest runs."""
+    workspace_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
+    test_env_file = workspace_root / ".env.test"
+    load_dotenv(dotenv_path=test_env_file, override=True)
+
+
+_load_test_env_file()
+
+
 SIMPLE_PAYLOAD = {
     "resourceType": "Parameters",
     "parameter": [