Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to provide NHS email accounts to NHS contractors, including optometrists.

National Health Service contractors, in the form of independent sector organisations, who provide health and social care services nationally, can be eligible for NHS.net accounts, formerly NHSmail, subject to acceptance criteria. Organisations that qualify will be permitted to create accounts for staff delivering patient-facing services.

Where an independent sector organisation has been commissioned locally and the commissioning body requires NHS.net, the local NHS organisation may provide sponsor email accounts for the duration of the contract. This is at the discretion of the local NHS organisation, as they are responsible for managing their own accounts.

NHS.net provides licences for optometry practices in England, specifically for General Ophthalmic Services contractors with 10 or fewer sites. Eligible practices can receive one shared mailbox and up to three individual NHS.net accounts per site, enabling secure communication of patient data.