NHSMail
Community pharmacists must be able to send and receive nhs.net emails (NHSMail) in order to meet the gateway criteria for Quality Payments. If you don’t have NHSmail in your pharmacy, you will not be eligible for ANY Quality Payments.
Process for getting shared NHSmail accounts for your pharmacy
- If you’ve not applied for a shared NHSmail account, do so here via the NHSmail portal. (Note: Pharmacy staff in multiples should check with head office first, as some are doing this centrally.)
- NHS Digital then send you details of how to set up your account and complete the process by providing some additional information through this portal. Don’t risk delays as NHS Digital may receive large volumes of applications.
- Once you’ve completed registration via the portal, NHS Digital will send you log-in details for the associated personal NHSmail accounts. Activate these as soon as possible to make sure they’re active.
If you have any problems applying, registering or setting up NHSmail (e.g. you can’t see your pharmacy on the portal), contact pharmacyadmin@nhs.net.
Further guidance
- PSNC have produced a very helpful briefing on NHSmail
- PSNC’s website also has detailed information
NHS Mail: Inactive Accounts
Individuals with NHS mail accounts showing no activity within a 90 day period are to be de-activated.
These individuals will have been sent an SMS text message and an email notifying them of this (to their NHS mail account, and also any shared mailboxes they’re linked to).
To keep your NHS mail account ‘live’ and avoid it being de-activated, please refer to these notifications and take the appropriate actions.
What if my account has been de-activated?
There is a 30 day period after the de-activation takes effect within which individuals can access the portal and re-activate their account.
Please note: Once the 30 day period expires there will be no facility within which to retain their original NHS mail account. Individuals will have to request a new one which will result in a brand new (different) NHS email address being issued.
Actions for contractors
Please ensure you are using and regularly checking your NHS mail accounts, as accounts being de-activated will result in individuals experiencing issues with accessing any shared mailboxes they are linked to.
Forwarding Emails from Shared NHS Mailbox to Personal NHS Email
Forwarding emails you receive in your NHS shared mailbox to your personal NHS mail account can help you access important information through one account. This tool we found can be very useful for contractors to stay in touch with important emails sent from NHS England as well as notifying of any new Digital Minor Illness Referrals (DMIRS).
If you have any queries relating to setting this up please email enquiries@gmlpc.org.uk.
How to forward Emails from your Shared Email Box to your personal or any other email
Please follow the following steps in order;
- Log in to your shared email box
- Click settings icon on the Top Right hand side of email window
3. Click on ‘Options’ in the pull down menu.
4. In the Options Menu, click on ‘organise email’ on the left hand side.
5. Under the ‘Inbox Rules’ tab click the arrow pointing down next to the plus symbol +
6. Select ‘Create a new rule for arriving messages’ under the drop down menu.
7. First select ‘when the message arrives, and:’ and from the drop down list select [Apply to all messages]. Then Then select ‘Do the following:’ and from the drop down list select ‘Redirect the message to…’
8. A new window will appear. Here you type in the email address you would like the emails to be forwarded too.
9. Once above Steps complete, click on the ‘save’
10. A warning message will appear asking ‘Do you want the rule to apply to all future messages?’ Click ‘yes’
11. To Check this has been setup there will be displayed a check box [Apply to all messages]. You can now exit settings area.
Original source: Kensington Chelsea and Westminster LPC website.
