The FutureNHS Collaboration platform is the only virtual collaboration platform from the NHS that supports people working in health and social care to make change, improve and transform across organisations, places and professions.

The platform allows members to respond quickly to the changing health and care landscape, most recently supporting its members to collaborate at scale during the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of the Long Term Plan.

FutureNHS is safe, easy to use and supports a growing network of people who want to work with others to accelerate their work. Members of the platform can join or create workspaces and communities to connect with others, learn and share.

FutureNHS is open to anyone working in or for health and social care. The platform supports commissioners, providers, senior management, front line staff, clinicians, health and social care colleagues, voluntary and community sector organisations, and other interested stakeholders.

FutureNHS is made up of different workspaces and it is safe and easy to use.

Workspaces are self-contained areas with their own managed membership which are dedicated to a project, programme or subject area. All workspaces are managed by one or more workspace managers, who look after the workspace content, membership and general administration.

When you join a workspace, you can view information or get involved in a discussion with other members, and depending on permissions, you can also add and edit further content.

A workspace can either be open (accessible to all members) or restricted (membership access requests must be approved).

You can request to be a member of as many different workspaces as you require, to support you in your work.

FutureNHS is owned and managed by NHS England and is a safe and secure place to save, access and share resources and content. The platform is hosted and supported by the software provider Kahootz. For more information about the platform’s security please look at the Kahootz policies around security and safety.

FutureNHS is a transparent, open and accountable platform. Users cannot post content anonymously and workspace managers have access to an audit log to track activity.

In accordance with NHS England information governance rules, we ask all our members to take responsibility for safe use of data. Do not disclose any personal information. Do not share OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE content without prior authorisation from the workspace manager or content owner. Do not disclose any patient or service user identifiable details. Always ensure that the content you upload does not infringe upon any applicable local, national or international law or regulation.

For more information refer to our Terms and Conditions.

Both platforms enable health and care colleagues to work effectively and share safely online. FutureNHS is used for ongoing collaboration across organisations and geographies – joining up communities of practice and interest no matter their location, job role or organisation. Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) and other local collaboration tools tend to be used more often for online meetings, related chat and live document sharing, primarily within organisations.

For example, someone working in a CCG may be planning budgets and contracts with their colleagues using a MS Teams channel, and then engaging, sharing and discussing more widely with ICS partners such as local authorities and acute trusts using a FutureNHS workspace.