On 20th October 2020 new NHS regulations were laid to introduce changes to the Terms of Service for pharmacy contractors. Some of these changes relate to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but most are changes which were previously agreed as part of the 5-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) and were originally planned to be introduced in July 2020.

This article is one of a series, explaining what the changes mean for pharmacy contractors and their teams.

This change applies from:

9th November 2020

What is the new requirement?

Pharmacy contractors must have a premises specific NHSmail account (with an email address using the following naming convention: pharmacy.ODScode@nhs.net), which their staff can access and can send and receive NHSmail from. There must be at least two members of staff that have live personal NHSmail accounts that are linked to the premises specific NHSmail account.

Most pharmacy contractors will already comply with this requirement, as setting up and maintaining a premises shared NHSmail account and staff having associated personal NHSmail accounts which are used to access the shared mailbox was previously a Pharmacy Quality Scheme requirement. These accounts were originally set up with addresses in the following format nhspharmacy.location.pharmacynameODScode@nhs.net, but these were updated earlier in the year to the pharmacy.ODScode@nhs.net format.

Pharmacy contractors should ensure staff with personal NHSmail accounts linked to the shared mailbox keep their personal accounts active and staff should regularly check the shared mailbox throughout the opening hours of the pharmacy.

Where can I get more support on this?

Further guidance on how to access and use NHSmail in community pharmacies can be found on PSNC’s NHSmail webpage.