Please follow the sections below to enable users to grant guest access to external users. A Local Administrator must first create a Guest Inviter group for their organisation via the NHS.net Portal. Once users are added to this group, they will be able to create guest accounts for external users in nhs.net and invite them to access files and documents.
Please note: Guest access is provided for an initial 30 days, after which time, the guest may request an extension for an additional 180 days. These extension requests can be approved by Local Administrators using the My Approvals page on the NHSmail portal.
For organisations using NHS.net Connect, please see the Support Hub guidance for managing guest access.
For organisations using NHSmail portal, please refer to the guidance below.
Create Guest Inviter Group
Eligible Guest Inviter groups allow Local Administrators to apply Guest Inviter permissions to a defined group of users. Each organisation can only have one Eligible Guest Inviter group. The users that are members of this group will be given the permissions in Azure AD to invite external users as guests to the NHS.net tenant through the NHS.net portal. These users will also have the permissions to approve guest access extensions for external users.
Create the Eligible Guest Inviter group in NHSmail Portal
- Click Admin in the navigation bar at the top of the screen and select Manage Eligible Guest Inviters from the drop down menu
2. Click Add in the top left of the screen and select Eligible Guest Inviters
3. Select the owning Organisation to which the new group will apply, from the drop down menu.
4. Select Request to finish creating your Eligible Guest Inviters group. It will then be added to the Eligible Guest Inviters group list.
Add members to Guest Inviter group
- Click on Add
2. Search for user using their email address or display name. After locating the relevant user you want to add as member or owner, select the box on the left-hand side of the screen and then click ‘Select’
3. Click on Update at the bottom of the page
Add members using the Import option
- Click on Import
2. Select the CSV file, click on it and click Open
3. Click on Upload
Creating Guest Access
The nhs.net platform allows you to securely share Office 365 (O365) data and collaborate across O365 applications with guest users from external organisations. This is done via a simple invitation and redemption process, allowing guests to use their own username and password to access NHS.net O365 services. Users that have the Eligible Guest Inviter role can follow the steps below to create guest accounts for external users.
Please note: Guest users can only be invited to nhs.net if they belong to an approved external organisation.
Manual Creation of Guest accounts
- Log in to the NHSmail Portal and navigate to the Guest Access Select Add, then Add Guest Users.
2. Complete the required email field for each guest user that requires access and select Submit. Select + to add up to 5 guests.
3. Submitting this request will generate the following two automated emails:
a) To the requester providing a status update on the request
b) To the external guest with confirmation and account verification steps
4. After submitting, the portal will re-direct you to the View Guest Users screen and a success / fail notification will appear. You must refresh the page to see your additional guests.
5. After refreshing the page, the new users will be added to your ‘View Guest Users’ list as shown below.
Bulk Create Guest accounts
- Log in to the NHSmail portal and navigate to the ‘Guest Access’ tab. Select Bulk Upload Guest Users.
2. Enter the guest user details into a CSV file to prepare for a bulk upload.
3. Select Browse / Upload to locate and attach the CSV file containing the guest user information.
4. Once uploaded, your file will be visible on the portal and ready for submitting. As with the manual upload process, both the inviter and guests will receive automated emails as shown in step 3 within the Manually Adding section.
5. After submitting, the Portal will re-direct you to the View Guest Users screen and a success / fail notification will appear. You must refresh the page to see your additional guests
6. After refreshing the page, the new users will be added to your ‘View Guest Users’ list as shown below.
Setting Up a Guest Account
Once guest accounts have been created, the external user will need to follow the steps below to enable their nhs.net guest account:
- The guest user will receive an email (to the email address provided by the eligible guest inviter) similar to the screenshot below. This confirms they have been invited as a guest user. They will need to select Get Started to create their account.
2. The guest user will be directed to the ‘Create account’ page. They must select Next.
3. The guest user will then need to create a password for the account. The password will need to be at least 8-characters. They will then need to select Next.
4. The guest user will be asked for the Country / region they are in and their date of birth. Once entered, select Next.
5. The guest user will then need to verify their email address. A security code will be sent to their email address which they will need to enter in the box below. Select Next.
6. As part of additional account verification, they will be asked to enter the characters they see in the box below and then select Next
7. Finally, the guest user will need to review and Accept the below permissions. Once the account has been created, NHSmail O365 users will be able to search for and collaborate with the newly created guest user account.
Delete and Restore Guest Users
Guest inviters can remove/restore an external user’s guest access using the NHS.net Portal. Guest access can be removed when it is no longer required and subsequently restored.
Delete a Guest User
- Click on Guest access
2. On the View Guest users page tick the checkbox for the account of the guest user to be deleted
3. Click on the Delete button
4. A dialog box will pop up, click Confirm
5. The message shown will appear once the guest user account is successfully deleted.
Restore Guest Access
Please note: Guest user’s access can be restored within 30 days from the date of deletion.
- Click on Guest access
2. On the View guest users page tick the checkbox for the deleted account’s guest access to be restored
3. Click the Restore button
4. A dialog box will pop up to confirm restore, click Confirm
5. The message will appear once the guest user account is restored successfully.
