NHSmail Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) – GP Locums

Guidance is available on the NHSmail support site on how GP Locums can join NHSmail.

If you have not received your individual NHSmail account details, you should email the GP Locum support team, providing your first and last name, General Medical Council (GMC) number and GMC registered email address.

The GP Locum support team, locumadmin@nhs.net, will endeavour to respond to your enquiry as soon as possible. The team is available between 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

Outside of these hours simple tasks like password resets can be performed by yourself or the NHSmail helpdesk via email or by calling 0333 200 1133. The NHSmail helpdesk is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

You must not apply for another account via the NHSmail registration portal as this will create a duplicate account, causing confusion with your colleagues. The NHSmail registration portal should only be used for those that do not already have an NHSmail account.

If your existing account is not marked as a GP Locum account, you can arrange for it to be transferred to the GP Locum part of the NHSmail service. Further information is available below under How do I turn my existing account into a GP Locum account

You need to inform your Local Administrator that you would like the account to be moved to the GP Locum part of the NHSmail service. Your Local Administrator needs to update the job role / title to ‘GP Locum’ and mark you as a ‘leaver’ of their organisation in the NHSmail system.

You will then need to contact the GP Locum support team, using your NHSmail email account, requesting they mark you as a ‘joiner’ in the GP Locum organisation in the NHS Directory. This must take place within 30 days of your account being marked as a leaver otherwise your account will become eligible for deletion.

Further information, and steps to take, can be found within the Leavers and Joiners Guide.

We use General Medical Council (GMC) and National Performers List information to compile your email address. The NHSmail email address naming convention is:

firstname.surname@nhs.net or initial.surname@nhs.net

If you are known by and normally use your middle name as your first name, please email the GP Locum support team or call the NHSmail helpdesk on 0333 200 1133 to amend your email address.

If you are leaving your practice to become a GP Locum, you will need to contact the Local Administrator in your current organisation to mark your account as a ‘leaver’.

You will then need to contact the GP Locum support team, using your NHSmail email account, requesting they mark you as a ‘joiner’ to the GP Locum organisation.

You will have 30 days from your account being marked as a ‘leaver’ to ensure it is marked as a ‘joiner’, or risk your account being permanently deleted.

Further information, and steps to take, can be found within the Leavers and Joiners Guide.

If you do not have an NHSmail account, you can register for one through the registration portal. Further guidance is available on the NHSmail support site.

A mobile phone number needs to be provided when applying for an NHSmail account, as temporary passwords are sent via a text message.

It is important that this mobile phone number is only used once within the registration portal, as the number will also be used to check that an account for that user is not already in use – the phone number must be a mobile phone number and be personal to that user.

Please note, the mobile phone number provided as part of your NHSmail application is automatically added to the NHS Directory, however you can opt for this to not be visible. Guidance on how to do this is available in the GP Locums using NHSmail Guide.

It is not recommended that you remove your mobile phone number as this will be used by the GP Locum support team as part of the authentication checks for account administration purposes, such as resetting your password or unlocking your email account.

You will need to contact the GP Locum support team or call the NHSmail helpdesk on 0333 200 1133.

Please ensure you provide your name, General Medical Council (GMC) number, GMC registered email address and the mobile phone number registered to your NHSmail account.

I’m a GP Locum but I already have an NHSmail account for my non-clinical role (for example NHS England, Health Education England, Public Health England etc.)

No. The ability to have more than one NHSmail account is not available right now. The NHSmail service reserves the right to remove duplicate accounts.

Access to shared mailboxes via your individual account can be used for GP Locum work.

The Data Security Awareness training must have been completed within the last 12 months and must be acknowledged in the pre-requisite questionnaire when completing the registration portal.

You can access free e-learning from most Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) or complete the e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH) – Data Security Awareness – Level 1 course.

To register onto the e-LfH Hub and to access the course, you can use Organisation Data Services (ODS) code – X33 – this code is for GP Locums only.

Note: To register for the e-LfH Hub, you must have one of the email addresses below or an Open Athens Account:

nhs.uk|nhs.net|doctors.org.uk|doctors.net|hscni.net|

If you don’t have one of these accounts, please contact support@e-lfh.org.uk.