This guide is intended to provide guidance and information around the ticket submission process to aid the NHSmail Service Desk in answering your queries or providing resolution to tickets raised.

Tickets can be raised with NHSmail Helpdesk via email, over the phone or by using the Helpdesk Self-Service (HSS) function. When a ticket is submitted, the Minimum Data Set (MDS) must be provided to give our NHSmail Resolver Teams the best possible chance to understand and resolve your issue. It is recommended that, wherever possible, Local Administrators (LAs) utilise the HSS functionality as this guarantees the MDS is captured at the point of ticket creation.

Minimum Data Set (MDS) for all incidents.

The below MDS is the minimum that is required to investigate any ticket raised.

Minimum MDS Required	MDS Response
Requestor email address:
Requestor contact number:
Number of affected users:
Affected user(s) email address(es):
Issue Description:
Please provide any error messages, screenshots or emails (saved as .eml or .msg):
Any other information you may think will be relevant to assist us in resolving your incident:

For incidents raised via email 

• To begin the process, please direct your email with the issue/request to helpdesk@nhs.net with the Minimum Data Set criteria above.
• A ticket is generated, and the ticket reference is sent to the originating email address from accentureplc@service-now.com as an acknowledgement of the email being received.
• As a first step, the details within the communication will be reviewed and assessed by our Helpdesk Agents.
• Tickets which can be resolved by the Helpdesk Agents will be actioned and returned. If the Helpdesk aren’t able to resolve your issue at this initial contact, your ticket will be assigned to one of our Resolver Teams for further investigation.

• Using the details provided in the MDS (and any other information captured), the relevant Resolver Team will investigate and provide guidance, a workaround, or fully resolve the issue as applicable.

For incidents raised by phone 

• If raising a ticket by telephone, please call the (NHSmail Helpdesk) on 0333 200 1133.
• One of our Helpdesk Agents will evaluate the issue and record the details provided to populate the relevant MDS; this is then used to create a new incident on your behalf.
• If the Helpdesk agent can provide guidance to resolve the issue raised, they will do so. Where this is not possible, they will pass your ticket to the relevant Resolver Team for investigation and resolution.

Request For Information (RFI) 

            Responses received within 24 hours

• Where additional information is required to support investigation of your issue, the NHSmail Helpdesk will submit an RFI to the Caller who raised the ticket from the Accenture ServiceNow tool (accentureplc@service-now.com) and will place the status of the ticket into Awaiting User info.
• The user must respond as directed in the notification email ensuring no changes are made to the email subject line. Information requested is required to aid investigation.

• Once a reply has been provided, the ticket will be automatically updated in the ServiceNow tool with the additional information you have sent to us. This information will allow the NHSmail Helpdesk to progress your ticket, or to re-assign the ticket to the appropriate resolver team.

Reminder emails

• If no response from the user is received via the initial RFI after 24 hours, the 1st reminder email notification is triggered which is sent from the Accenture ServiceNow tool (accentureplc@service-now.com).
• If no response is provided 24 hours after the 1st reminder, a further 2 reminders are sent 24 hours apart.
• If no response is received 24 hours after the 3rd automated reminder email is sent, the ticket is set to the Resolved state automatically by the Accenture ServiceNow tool.
• The 3-stage reminder process is configured within ServiceNow to exclude weekends and Bank holidays.

Once a ticket is set to resolved

• • After a ticket has been Resolved, the Caller has 72 hours to re-open the ticket and confirm if the issue persists. If the issue has not been resolved fully, the Helpdesk will re-assign your ticket back to the relevant Resolver Team for further investigation.
  • If no response is received or the user confirms the issue/request is resolved the ticket is automatically closed by ServiceNow

For information on the complaints and escalations process please visit the NHSmail support pages.

Email Contact: Helpdesk@nhs.net                                Phone Contact: 0333 200 1133

Last Reviewed Date

07/11/2022