National Administration Service (NAS) Bulletin – April 2021

National Administration Service (NAS) Bulletin – April 2021 

This information is correct at the time of publishing 

Your new NAS bulletin 

Welcome to the National Administration Service (NAS) bulletin.  We have taken onboard user feedback and refreshed the bulletin to engage all our colleagues, particularly those on the frontline who are busy and have little time.

The refreshed NAS bulletin will have important and useful updates, and in collaboration with our NAS colleagues, will also address the common issues you are facing. This is so you spend less time raising tickets and more time on what really matters – helping people.

Your questions, answered 

The NAS FAQs are regularly updated to cover the most common questions organisations like yours and others are bringing to the NAS helpdesk. It also has useful contacts for more complicated issues.

Please ensure you regularly check the FAQs if you have a query, if it is not covered, or you need additional support, please liaise with the relevant NAS contact found on the above support page.

If you do need to contact the NAS, please provide as much information as you can regarding your query. The more information they have the quicker they can attempt to resolve your issue.

Shared mailboxes 

What are the benefits?

Shared mailboxes are ideal for small organisations. The members of a shared mailbox have access to and visibility of queries meaning;

• • Faster response times
  • Ongoing queries can be picked up by any shared mailbox members, resulting in less delays
  • Fewer lost or forwarded emails
  • Peace of mind for colleagues on extended leave or managing responsibilities
  • Shared calendar functionality grants visibility of colleague’s meetings

Shared mailbox tips 

After a recent investigation into the volumes of NAS tickets we have identified that the most common issues relate to shared mailboxes, and so these have been addressed below:

Your organisation has changed ODS code

A change in ODS does not necessarily mean you need a new shared mailbox. If your organisation’s ODS code has changed send an email with the new ODS details from the shared mailbox to the relevant NAS contact. They will check if the shared mailbox can be transferred and if so, will be able to adjust this in the background. If a new shared mailbox does need creating, they will provide guidance to do this.

Account deleted and you need it back? 

Ask your shared mailbox owner (should be your site manager) to email a request from the shared mailbox to the relevant NAS contact, providing your linked mobile number and ask for you to be reinstated. If the deletion is permanent, they can instead request for a new account be set up for you.

If nobody has access to the mailbox anymore? 

If no one in your organisation can access the shared mailbox then you will need to contact the relevant NAS contact. Please consult the Unable to access a shared mailbox section of the NAS FAQ for further guidance.  

Trouble getting into your shared mailbox from your mobile device? 

It is difficult to access a shared mailbox easily from a mobile device and we would like to change that. We are planning to publish a workaround on the NHSmail support pages soon which will help provide easier access.

Updates 

Deletion of inactive accounts

We want to reduce the number of duplicate and inactive accounts for users. As mentioned in the last bulletin, if an account is not logged into for 90 days, it will become inactive, and after a further 90 days eligible for deletion. This deletion is permanent after a further 30 days.

To prevent unwanted account deletions, if you know of any colleagues that have been not had a chance to look at their emails, please pass on the message for them to log in so their accounts. If they are inactive, logging in will make them active again, if they are deleted, they will not be able to log in, and at this point, need to ask their shared mailbox owner to get in touch with the NAS team, as it can be restored if within 30 days of being deleted. See the NAS FAQ for further details.

If you know any colleagues that are going on long term leave, please remind them to ask the shared mailbox owner to mark them as disabled; this stops them being deleted for 18 months. When they return, they just need to ask for it to be re-enabled.

Introducing improved shared mailbox naming for Dispensing Appliance Contractors (DACs) 

We will be implementing a new shared mailbox naming convention (outlined below) for existing shared mailboxes from April 2021.

Note:

• The user display names will change from LASTNAME, First name (NHSPHARMACY) to LASTNAME, First name (DISPENSING APPLIANCE CONTRACTOR)
• An alias will be created for the previous email address so you will still receive emails, should anyone continue to email to it.
• The newly named shared mailbox changes will allow you to search for an organisation using the NHS Directory (People Finder) against a variety of search options such as organisation name, user name, ODS code and postcode.
• Ensure you select the correct user or shared mailbox from the NHS Directory to prevent any potential data breach.

What action do I need to take?

Continue to use your shared mailbox as normal.

We will send an email notification to your shared mailbox to advise of the new shared mailbox email address. An alias will be created for your previous email address so you will still receive emails should anyone continue to email to it.

Coming soon

Self-Service registration

Whilst you all have been working tirelessly in these difficult times, your social care regional leads have been working hard on your behalf with NAS and NHS Digital colleagues to look at how we can make improvements to the Self-Service Registration portal to help registration for NHSmail much swifter and simpler.

Virtual visits

Virtual Visits is on the horizon! By integrating the Microsoft Bookings and Microsoft Teams apps this should help your organisations to manage meetings with patients, their families and carers, nurses, and other healthcare professionals much more effectively.