Workspace management policy

Purpose
Creating a new workspace
Managing workspace content
Managing workspace access: managers and members
Notifying the Futures team when a platform policy has been breached
Deleting a workspace
Quick read checklist

1. Purpose

1.1 The Futures collaboration platform (also referred to as ‘FutureNHS’ or ‘the platform’) is a digital tool that supports people working in health and care to connect, share and learn across organisational boundaries. The platform hosts workspaces, self-contained areas with a membership dedicated to a particular health and care project, programme or community.

1.2 All workspaces are managed by one or more workspace manager(s), who look after the workspace content, membership and general administration. This policy sets out the rules and processes that all workspace managers on the platform must follow to ensure Futures communities are relevant, active, and safe.

1.3 Failure to comply with this policy may result in the suspension or removal of the workspace managers and/or the workspace from the platform. If you need help with any of the actions listed in the policy you can search the support centre for how-to guides and videos or contact support.

2. Creating a new workspace

2.1 The Futures team in NHS England manage the platform and are responsible for issuing new workspaces. This section explains what types of work Futures workspaces can support, who can request a workspace and how to submit a request.

What can workspaces be used for?

2.2 A workspace will only be supported if it meets the following criteria:

It serves a health and care project, programme or community
It does not breach information governance rules set out in the acceptable use policy, including rules for sharing sensitive information
It is used for sharing information with a community and/or for collaboration, not as an information storage location
It is used by 3 or more users
It does not duplicate an existing workspace on the Futures platform (visit Find a Workspace to search for a workspace).

Who can request a workspace?

2.3 A user can request a workspace provided they meet the following criteria:

An existing Futures member
An employee of an NHS organisation or another approved health and care organisation*.
Have explored other options to collaborate with external organisations (i.e. through Microsoft SharePoint, Teams, or other options provided by your local IT) before choosing Futures
The requesting user and/or other workspace manager(s) must have the capacity to effectively maintain the workspace, including the ability to respond to queries and access requests within 5 working days and manage content as set out in section 4 of this policy.

2.4 *Please note: Workspaces are not permitted to be owned and solely managed by the private sector. Where private sector involvement is required, an approved organisation must make the request and is responsible for ensuring activity does not breach the acceptable use policy.

Process for starting a new workspace

2.5 The steps to start are new workspace are:

1. The requesting user logs in to Futures and submits a workspace request
2. The Futures team reviews the request
3. The requester receives an email notifying them of one of the following outcomes:

Approval: The workspace is be created, and the requester is invited as a workspace manager within two working days
Rejection: Reasons for rejection are provided in an email
Clarification: The requester may be asked to provide additional information in an email.

2.6 A workspace request will be rejected if:

One or more of the criteria listed in section 2.3 are not met
No response is provided to a clarification request within 14 days
For any other reason given by the Futures team.

2.7 In addition to reading this policy, new workspace managers should watch a training session, visit our support centre and read our top tips guides. Training will support you to get the most out of your workspace and use the platform to meet your aims and objectives.

3. Managing workspace content

Managers are responsible for content hosted in their workspace

3.1 Workspace managers are responsible for ensuring that all content shared in their workspace adheres to the acceptable use policy. This includes (but is not limited to) content within documents, added to dashboard pages and posted in forums.

3.2 If a workspace manager believes a policy has been violated, they must report it. For more information, please see section 5.

3.3 Workspace owning organisations are the data controller for personal data held within their workspace (see privacy notice). Workspace managers must ensure personal data is handled lawfully, securely and in line with UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

4. Managing workspace access

Issuing and removing workspace manager permissions

4.1 Workspaces should contain the minimum number of workspace managers required to maintain the workspace, not exceeding 10 in total. Please note: in some instances, workspace teams may have a valid business need to exceed 10 managers. Please contact support if you would like to discuss this.

4.2 Manager permissions should only be granted for the period of time they are required.

4.3 Workspace managers must be reviewed every three months.

4.4 For guidance, please see our support article adding or removing a workspace manager.

Inactive workspace manager accounts

4.5 If a user with workspace manager permissions is not active on the workspace for more than three months, the Futures team will revoke the workspace manager permissions from the user. The user will retain their membership to the workspace.

4.6 If a user wishes to reinstate their workspace manager permissions, they must make a new request to the current workspace manager(s).

Reviewing workspace membership

4.7 All users on the platform must re-verify their email address every three months. When a user has not logged in to the platform for 365 days, their account is removed.

4.8 In addition, workspace managers should review their workspace membership every 6 months to ensure the right users have access to their content.

Managing access to sensitive workspace information

4.9 Section 3 of the acceptable use policy outlines the different types of information that can be shared on Futures and the rules for sharing them. It also explains which information types are not permitted on Futures.

4.10 Workspace managers must ensure that all information shared on their workspace follows the rules set out in the acceptable use policy, particularly with regards to more sensitive information. This includes use of the correct workspace privacy setting and only providing permitted email domain access to sensitive information.

4.11 Workspace managers should review their workspace content and permission settings every six months to ensure information is being managed in line with the policy.

4.12 For support managing workspace permissions and privacy, please see the following guides:

Removing out-of-date or unnecessary workspace content

4.13 Futures must not to be treated as an electronic records management system or information storage location. Any content uploaded in a workspace should be for the purpose of collaboration or sharing with others and removed once no longer needed for these purposes. Records should be held locally by the responsible organisation and maintained in line with relevant corporate policies.

4.14 Workspace managers should review and remove out of date or unnecessary content every 6 months.

4.15 Workspace managers should review links to content, especially links to external websites, to ensure they are working and still directing to the intended content every 6 months.

Summary

4.16 Every 6 months, a workspace manager should review:

Workspace members with manager permissions
The workspace privacy setting and permissions settings on workspace content
The workspace membership
Workspace content and links.

5. Notifying the Futures team when a platform policy has been violated

What should I do if a user breaches a platform policy?

5.1. Workspace managers must notify the Futures team immediately upon discovering a user has breached or may have breached a platform policy. To do this, please contact support.

5.2. The Futures team will review the incident and take appropriate action, such as removing offending content or revoking a user’s account.

5.3. Appropriate steps must also be taken following your local organisation’s procedures where relevant.

5.4. A user who has been removed from the platform must not be re-invited by a workspace manager without approval from the Futures team.

6. Deleting a workspace

Deleting a workspace

6.1 A workspace may be deleted by the Futures team due to:

Breach of policy: the workspace violates the platform rules, such as acceptable use or information governance guidelines
Inactivity: the workspace has been inactive for more than three months
Upon request: a workspace manager requests for the workspace to be deleted by contacting us
Other reasons: for any other reason given by the Futures team.

Definition of inactive workspace

6.2 A workspace is considered inactive under one or more of the following conditions:

Manager inactivity: A manager of the workspace has not engaged in any activity on the workspace
Workspace updates: No updates or changes have been made to the workspace (including content)
Member visits: the workspace does not sustain regular visits by its members.

Workspace deletion process

6.3 If a workspace meets any of the criteria set out in 6.1, the Futures team will:

Contact the workspace manager(s) by email to seek clarification regarding the status of the workspace
If confirmed as inactive, or if no response is received within the stated timeframe, the workspace will be deleted. Ahead of this, the Futures team will recommend that the workspace manager(s) save any documents or content they need.

Restoring a deleted workspace

6.4 Workspaces can be restored for up to one year after deletion. The workspace content and pages can be restored with or without restoring the previous workspace members, depending on the requirement.

6.5 A workspace will only be restored if:

The workspace continues to meet the criteria set out in section 2 of this policy
The requesting organisation is the same as the original owner of the workspace. Where ownership has changed, explicit approval from the original owning organisation must be provided.

6.6 To request to restore a deleted workspace, please contact support.

7. Quick read checklist

Workspace managers should:

1. Understand what the appropriate use of workspaces on Futures is and ensure their workspace meets these requirements

2. Know the steps to report a policy breach on their workspace

3. Check their workspace permissions and access settings every 6 months, including:

Review workspace members with manager permissions
Review workspace privacy setting and permissions settings on workspace content
Review workspace membership
Review workspace content and links.

4. Know how to request to delete their workspace if it is no longer needed

5. If they need a new workspace, ensure they meet the criteria before submitting a request

6. Know how to access help via the support centre or by contacting support.

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