NHS mail reminder from the Information and IT committee
Warning to NHS mail holders in England that accounts that have not been used for 30 days will be marked as inactive and deleted after a further 30 days
The optical sector’s Information and IT Committee is reminding all holders of NHS mail accounts in England of important changes to NHS mail.
NHS Digital has announced a change to the terms of usage for NHS mail accounts.
Previously if accounts were not used for 90 days they would be marked as inactive and then deleted if not used after another 90 days.
These time periods are reducing. From 1 December 2022, if an account has not been used for 30 days, it will be marked as inactive and deleted after a further 30 days.
Deleted accounts can be restored for up to 30 days after that but will then be permanently deleted and holders will have to apply again for a new NHS mail account.
To keep an account active, holders will need to ensure they carry out one of the following at least every 30 days:
- Log into the NHSmail portal
- Log into O365 application
- Use O365 applications (ie Outlook with cached credentials)
- Send an email
The committee is advising that a pragmatic way to ensure the email stays active is to use Outlook to check emails regularly which will prevent the account being deactivated.
NHS Mail help
If practices have an issue with an NHS mail address, they are sometimes being directed by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to LOCs. However, the committee has confirmed that these are not issues LOCs can resolve.
The NHSBSA has apologised for the confusion and provided new contact details for NHS mail issues.
Administration of NHS mail accounts can only be done by the National Administration Service (NAS).
The committee offers the following guidance:
- To request a new account if an account has been deleted, please contact [email protected]
- If holders are unsure whether their account is still active, or they require support, they should first contact [email protected]
- Guides on how to register GOS contractors and performers (including locums), a user guide to NHS mail and some FAQs are available online
- If holders have not applied for an NHS mail account previously and wish to do so, this can be carried out online
The committee notes that for those GOS contractors with more than 10 practices, the Egress encryption service remains the only solution at present. The committee secretariat is working to understand how and when a different solution will be in place. In the meantime, please contact [email protected] if you require more information.