NHSmail

NHS MAIL IN ENGLAND

 

JURISDICTION

CCA and AIMp

 

DERIVATION

A joint Company Chemists’ Association and the Association of Independent Multiples Ltd (CCA & AIMp) position statement on the roll-out of the NHS mail service in England.

 

SUMMARY OF POSITION

The CCA & AIMp position is that:

·         We support the concept of the NHS mail as an unstructured messaging system for the transfer of clinical information; however, a number of fundamental professional, commercial and legal issues need to be rectified prior to implementation.

·         Integration with our members’ IT structures is a key issue to be resolved.

·         A potential solution is being developed by CCA’s member companies.

BACKGROUND

NHS mail is a secure email and directory service for NHS staff in England and Scotland.  It is the only approved method to communicate patient data between NHS organisations.

 

DETAILED POSITION

Purpose

CCA & AIMp understand that NHS mail is designed to be a short-term secure method for sharing and integrating clinical information, and should be used to benefit patients.  While the CCA & AIMp support the intention of the NHS mail system, there are nevertheless a number of fundamental issues that need to be rectified prior to implementation.

 

CCA & AIMp member companies do not want NHS mail to become a simple way to burden clinical professionals with a lot of extraneous information sent out by email because it is easy, or so that individuals can say they have “communicated”.  Used inappropriately it could be detrimental to care.  CCA & AIMp believe, therefore, that to guard against this an Acceptable Use Policy should be drafted immediately, with input from all stakeholders. The policy also ought to include guidance on issues such as the purposes for which NHS mail can be used, as well as the terms and conditions for setting-up and using generic mailboxes.

 

IT integration issues

The implementation of NHS mail in multiple pharmacies has additional cost and resource implications, and CCA member companies will pursue these through the appropriate channels.

 

The integration of NHS mail with pharmacies’ corporate systems is a long-standing issue.  CCA & AIMp member companies recognise the increasing pressure to develop a solution as NHS mail utilisation increases (or as PCTs and other NHS bodies express the wish to use NHS mail for communication with pharmacies.) 

 

Preferred solution

The CCA’s member companies are working together on a solution that can be applied across multiples.  With testing now taking place, we hope to be able to present a preferred solution soon.  The requirements for NHS mail to work effectively for pharmacies are:

·         Users must have a single mailbox that can be used for both NHS mail and corporate mail.

·         Healthcare professionals must be able to send emails to the NHS mail account for company stores and this mail should be presented to the store user in the same view as their store mailbox.

·         Mail sent to the NHS mail account must be collected by the company and be made available in the company mailbox.

·         NHS mail sent from a company store should be routed via the NHS mail gateway rather than the internet.

·         The proof of concept must highlight the opportunity for archiving.

·         The proof of concept must highlight the opportunity for the addition of signatures to emails.

·         N3 firewalls need to be open.

 

NHS processes

As mentioned earlier, CCA & AIMp support the principle of NHS mail, but believe an effective solution for pharmacy is required. It is unfortunate that this seems to be just another IT development where pharmacy involvement is taken for granted.  This should be a lesson for the NHS of the need for central system developers to properly interact with key providers who have their own systems, audit requirements, competition issues and so on.

 

NHS EMAIL IN WALES

Implementation of NHS email in Wales has progressed beyond the stage we are at in England. This is, in part, due to the fact that NHS Wales do not envisage NHS email to be a method of sending personal clinical information, although there may be scope for development of further structured clinical messaging in future. Rather, Local Health Boards in Wales are looking to distribute information, in particular drug alerts, in a way that is more efficient than the current use of fax or mail.

 

Discussions of possible solutions between CCA members and NHS Wales identified two different technical profiles in the multiples (one for “corporate” pharmacies, one for “supermarket” pharmacies) that require different solutions. Two intermediate solutions were agreed to address the issue of allowing LHBs to deliver email alerts to pharmacy stores. Both allow for the use of generic email accounts (one per pharmacy), rather than the personal email accounts (one per user), as is demanded by England.

 

NHS Wales will be working with CCA member companies over the coming months with the aim of having an example of each solution running by mid-March.

 

 

Issued: January 2010