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NHSmail is a secure means of exchanging information electronically and is the only email service endorsed by the British Medical Association for the transfer of clinical information.
Community pharmacy access to the service is currently being piloted in a number of PCT areas around the country. Pilots are reviewing account provisioning and help desk support arrangements and are investigating how the benefits of community pharmacy access to the service can be maximised.
Recognised Pharmacy Access to NHSmail Pilot Areas
Central Lancashire
Central and Eastern Cheshire
Liverpool
Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale
Northampton
Salford
Tameside & Glossop
Trafford
Wirral
In the pilots, pharmacy staff are being provided with NHSmail accounts and each pharmacy site is offered a generic pharmacy mailbox. A range of uses are being explored including the transmission of clinical information such as MUR forms and the submission of reimbursement claims for enhanced services to PCTs. The NHSmail service currently offers free SMS text messaging so another option being explored is whether the service could be used to send prescription reminders to patients.
As well as benefits, a number of challenges have also been identified including:
Account Provisioning: Discussions are ongoing on who will be responsible for signing up pharmacy staff and providing ongoing helpdesk support, for example for lost passwords. It is possible this could be undertaken by PCTs, pharmacy system suppliers, N3 connectivity providers and/or supported in-house within multiple pharmacy groups.
Clinical Governance: It is important that records of clinical communications are kept, for example to support defence against litigation in the event of an error being made. Consideration is being given to how information sent through the NHSmail service can be stored in a way that remains accessible to pharmacy contractors.
Consideration is also being given to a recent change in the law that imposes requirements on companies on the content of email footers and whether this requirement extends to pharmacy use of NHSmail.
A Steering Board has recently been set up to co-ordinate the project plan for the rollout of NHSmail to community pharmacies. This includes both independent and multiple pharmacy representatives. Solutions to the above and other issues are currently being considered as part of this work.
Before rolling out the service further, PSNC believes it is important to wait and take account of learnings from the pilot sites to ensure a properly supported and managed rollout of NHSmail in community pharmacies.
Later this year, the NHSmail Service will shortly be moving from it’s existing Mirapoint platform to Microsoft Exchange 2007 which is expected to deliver new functionality and improved usability to NHSmail users. For those pharmacists that already have NHSmail accounts, there will be a change in the online interface with your account. Training will be available online.
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