Applications integrated with NHSmail single sign-on will redirect the user to enter their NHSmail credentials via the NHSmail portal. You must not attempt to disguise your identity, your sending address or send email from other systems pretending to originate from the NHSmail service. Where there is a need to provide someone else with the ability to send email on your behalf, this should be done via the delegation controls within the service. Where an organisation wishes to send email on behalf of its staff the organisation may request the ability to do this via Impersonation accounts. Impersonation enables an application account to impersonate all user accounts within an organisation.

NHSmail Partners

The NHSmail team reserves the right to withdraw an NHSmail account from use should operational requirements dictate. There may be circumstances under which it is necessary for a designated and authorised person other than you, to view the contents of your files and folders within NHSmail. See how the new Service will empower you to work more efficiently, connect more easily and innovate with confidence. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules.

• Use of the service for illegal activity is grounds for immediate dismissal and any illegal activity will be reported to the police.
• NHSmail facilitates the exchange of information but it may not determine the definitive position of a situation and should always be read in context of the situation it concerns.
• NHSmail is protected by anti-virus and anti-spam software although occasionally, as with any email service, a new virus or spam message may not be immediately detected.

Use of the service for illegal activity is grounds for immediate dismissal and any illegal activity will be reported to the police. Illegal activity includes, but is not limited to, sending, or receiving buggyra coin zero material related to paedophilia, terrorism, incitement to racial harassment, stalking, sexual harassment, and treason. Use of the service for illegal activity will result in the immediate disablement of your NHSmail account.

Module 2: Welcome to Outlook Web Access (OWA)

NHSmail is protected by anti-virus and anti-spam software although occasionally, as with any email service, a new virus or spam message may not be immediately detected. If you are unsure of the source of an email or attachment you should leave it unopened and inform your local IT services. If you receive spam messages you should report them to using the process detailed on Reporting Cyber Threats on the NHSmail support site. You must not introduce or forward any virus or any other computer programme that may cause damage to NHS or social care computers or systems. If you are found to be deliberately responsible for introducing or forwarding a programme that causes any loss of service, NHS England may seek financial reparation from your employing organisation. You must not use NHSmail to violate any laws, copyright or regulations of the United Kingdom or other countries.

Your responsibilities when using the NHSmail O365 Shared Tenant

It is recommended that all NHSmail user accounts enroll Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to enhance the security of the NHSmail platform. Further guidance on setting up MFA is available on the NHSmail support site - User Guides – NHSmail Support. The NHSmail services have been provided to aid the provision of health and social care and this should be your main use of the service. The Skype for Business Learning Series will provide you with the skills and guidance on how to use, and make the most of, Skype for Business. The series covers content from sending an instant message to hosting audio and video conference calls. Remember that personal information is accessible to the data subject i.e., the patient or staff member, under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation.

Where sensitive information is being saved, it is your responsibility to make sure the privacy settings of O365 collaboration tools are set to private. As with printed information, care should be taken that sensitive or personal information is not left anywhere it can be accessed by other people, e.g., on a public computer without password protection. If your organisation already has another publicly funded email account, you are not eligible for NHSmail, for example ‘nhs.uk’,‘gov.uk’ or domains accredited to the secure email standard. If you are a member of clinical or care staff, you may use NHSmail services in relation to the treatment of private patients in accordance with your own professional codes of conduct. NHSmail includes the core services of secure email, the NHS Directory, O365 including Teams and portal administration tools. There are a number of additional O365 Top-up and Add-on licence services which will only be available if your organisation has chosen to purchase and enable them.

It is your responsibility to check who has access to your SharePoint sites, Teams groups, is a member of your Yammer network or access to your OneDrive. The NHSmail Portal does not have an automated procedure to remove permission for individuals who have left your organisation. You must not use the NHSmail service to disable or overload any computer system or network. Where excessive account activity is detected, your account could be suspended, without notice, to safeguard the service for all other users.

Access Email

• The NHSmail Portal does not have an automated procedure to remove permission for individuals who have left your organisation.
• You should notify your Local Administrator if you become aware of any unauthorised access to your NHSmail account or believe your account to be compromised.
• When you are sending sensitive information, you should always request a delivery and read receipt (email) or recipient acknowledgement (Teams messaging) so that you can be sure the information has been received safely.
• I.e., patient notes may be exchanged using NHSmail but may not consider additional information added into the patient’s record.
• NHSmail is a collaboration system not a clinical records or patient data system.
• Illegal activity includes, but is not limited to, sending, or receiving material related to paedophilia, terrorism, incitement to racial harassment, stalking, sexual harassment, and treason.

This means that both those sending and receiving the information know what is to be sent, what it is for and have agreed how the information will be treated. Ensure your calendar settings are set in accordance with your local organisation policies. It is your responsibility to check that you are sending email to the correct recipient as there may be more than one person with the same name using the service. Always check that you have the correct email address for the person you wish to send to - this can be done by checking their entry in the NHS Directory.

The NHSmail service is not responsible for the content of any user-created posting, listing or message made on the service. The decision to post, view or interact with content and others via the service is a local risk decision. Sending an email with secure in the subject line will automatically protect the message for you if you are unsure if the system you are sending to is secure or not. Good practice is to share sensitive information via email as opposed to Teams messaging, as this will provide a clear audit trail. Your Local Administrator should be part of this process to ensure archived data is stored appropriately. If you continue to receive data in your new role within a different organisation this should be treated as a data breach and reported according to local governance policy and process.

Should you need to, by exception, send communication of a personal nature you must clearly state that your message is a personal message and not sent in your official capacity. When considering privacy settings, you must ensure you select the appropriate setting of private or public. The private setting should always be applied if you are working on documents containing personal data of patients, staff, or others. If you choose to change the settings to public and use the ‘allow everyone’ setting you will publicly share content with across the platform. It is unlikely you would ever need to do this, and you may breach data protection, safety, and security protocols if you do so. You must abide by the local policies and regulations applicable for your organisation with regards to uploading of content to the O365 applications and collaboration tools.

Should you require multiple accounts, this would be a local organisation decision dependant on each use case. Attachments within calendar appointments are counted as part of your mailbox quota and should be regularly deleted to ensure your quota is not breached. Your organisation maintains day to day administration responsibility for your NHSmail account. If your use breaches this AUP or the Access Policy, your organisation has the right to undertake disciplinary procedures in accordance with your local HR policy.

Such requests are strictly regulated, the process is detailed in the NHSmail access to data procedure. Access for any other reason, for example long term sick, is subject to local processes and procedures and is not governed by NHSmail. You must ensure your password and answers to your security questions for the NHSmail services are always kept confidential and secure. You should notify your Local Administrator if you become aware of any unauthorised access to your NHSmail account or believe your account to be compromised. You must never input your NHSmail password into any websites other than nhs.net sites, including social media sites.

Module 3: Sending and Receiving Emails

It is your responsibility to ensure you regularly archive data, in accordance with your local archiving policy, contained within your mailbox and ensure your quota is not breached. Your organisation may decide to use Exchange Online Archiving to help you manage your mailbox quota. NHSmail is designed for the exchange of information and is not a storage solution and archiving should be carried out in line with your local policy and process. If you do not manage your mailbox quota you are at risk of your mailbox no longer being able to send or receive email, potentially compromising clinical safety. All communication you send through the NHSmail services is assumed to be official correspondence from you acting in your official capacity on behalf of your organisation. This should be in accordance with your local organisation’s policies for exchanging data.

Information you provide or upload to the service may be stored outside of the country in which you reside. This includes, but is not limited to unsolicited marketing, advertising, and selling goods or services. NHSmail facilitates the exchange of information but it may not determine the definitive position of a situation and should always be read in context of the situation it concerns. I.e., patient notes may be exchanged using NHSmail but may not consider additional information added into the patient’s record. Microsoft Teams Shared Channels allow users inside and outside of NHS-mail to chat and collaborate without the need to switch tenants.