What is Microsoft 365? [M365]

All email and office documents and Teams are now part of the Microsoft 365 platform (M365). This is a national set up which allows linkage across all of NHS Scotland and increasingly health and social care. 

• For local Lothian information on M365: M365 Guides and Information (sharepoint.com) 

• For skills and training see the National Skills Hub: Welcome to the M365 Skills Hub (sharepoint.com)

Most people are making minimal use of M365 for just email/calendar and then using Teams for the odd video call. However the product is far more valuable with many benefits to realize such as

• using chat to keep information ordered rather than multiple emails: Teams guided learning modules (sharepoint.com)

• working collaboratively on documents: OneDrive (sharepoint.com) and SharePoint 

• scheduling meetings and booking time: Outlook (sharepoint.com)

• Collaborate on shared tasks: Planner (sharepoint.com)

• Collect information: Forms (sharepoint.com)

• Wellbeing and digital safety: Viva Insights (sharepoint.com)

• Collaborate with council colleagues: M365 Cross-organisation collaboration (sharepoint.com)

Common M365 questions including home/personal access

New tighter controls around security means accessing NHS Scotland M365 information from a personal device, such as a personal phone or home/uni computer, requires additional security to be in place. These controls are to help prevent security breaches but can make it tricky to access information in ways you were used to doing.

Resident Doctors are directed to these resources from the Digital & IT team and this statement from them. An M365 login is needed.

NHS Lothian Microsoft 365 Information Hub (sharepoint.com)

Accessing Office 365 on a Personal Device (sharepoint.com)

“Access to Office 365 on a personal device is intended for ad hoc working when not in an NHS location, and should not be considered as an alternative primary device for work purposes or as a replacement of your work device. Clinical and Personal Identifiable data should also not be accessed with this personal device. Under no circumstances should an email be forwarded from your NHS Scotland/Lothian address to a personal email address, this breaches NHS Lothian Digital IT Security Policy.”

Further guidance is given at the links below:

• Accessing via Personal Mobile Devices – you will need to also have a security app installed such as Microsoft Authenticator or Microsoft Company Portal [you will be prompted]. This does NOT access personal information on your wider phone or the content of any email – its sole role is to maintain the boundaries around Microsoft apps – including not being able to download or copy & paste.

• Accessing via Personal Computer Devices – you will need MultiFactor Authentication set up – e.g. to get a text message as a second layer of authentication. This is similar to how many people access banking websites.

• Digital Communications Guidance – be aware of what you can/can't send by email or on teams and which email addresses are safe for sending patient identifiable information [e.g. most councils and schools, some care homes but not third sector/uni].

• Check this list [inTRAnet link] for the most up to date safe email transmission grid.

Additional FAQs

• Why can’t I view/download PDFs? PDFs can be downloaded to one drive and then viewed more helpfully – the browser-based email preview does not work well for large PDFs.

• Why can’t I upload/download to Teams / paste into Teams chat? This is limited if either a) you are not a full member of the Team or b) if you are on a personal device. See this document about how to Collaborate in OneDrive (sharepoint.com) which may help

• Will an NHS Lothian laptop help? This will only be available if your service has decided you need one for your role – speak to your Clinical Director. We hope this will increase, but at the moment is still quite limited. The laptop will come with a VPN to allow you to access clinical systems like TRAK/HEPMA but you will also need an enhanced license [called ‘F3+AddOns’] if you wish to use the actual office apps and not work at office.com. See Changes -> Licensing (sharepoint.com).

• What does Remote Desktop Access [VPN] add if I am on a personal/uni computer? This is a cheaper solution than a laptop / enhanced license [£150 vs £1000], but the view you get once logged in is essentially the same as if you were on a Wyse machine.

• Will an enhanced license help? Probably not, unless you have an NHS laptop on which the actual word/excel/powerpoint apps can be downloaded. For general use on Wyse machines or from home on a person device, this will not help. There is the option to buy additional mailbox storage, but this will not follow to other health boards and from East 2025 mailbox size will be increasing anyway. For license information and costs see Changes -> Licensing (sharepoint.com)