About Q-Flow and the National Booking Service (NBS)

The National Booking Service (NBS) is a national service that supports members of the public to book and attend appointments across England.

NBS is made up of 6 products:

• Book a coronavirus vaccination – for the public to book and manage appointments
• Book a free NHS flu vaccination at a pharmacy – for the public to book and manage a free NHS flu vaccination appointment
• Q-Flow admin console – for staff to manage the list of sites and appointments
• Overseas Vaccination Record Validation Service – for the public to book appointments to show evidence for any COVID-19 vaccinations received outside England
• Check a vaccination appointment service/Check-In app – for vaccination site staff to view details of a patient’s appointment and check them into appointments 
• 119 training tool - for 119 agents to familiarise themselves with the various booking journeys so they can support the public

1. Site managers at vaccination sites create appointment availability in the Q-Flow admin console. Operational guidance is available.
2. Members of the public who are eligible for a vaccination receive an invitation from the national call and recall service.
3. Members of the public visit www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination, www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/book-flu-vaccination or call 119 to book their vaccination.
4. If the user has consented to be contacted, they will receive email and/or SMS notifications containing details of the appointments, including booking references.
5. When the member of the public arrives at the vaccination site for their appointment, they give their booking reference to the arrival steward who uses the Check a vaccination appointment/Check-In app (if utilised by the site) to verify the appointment details and allows them to enter the site.
6. At the pre-vaccination clinical assessment, the assessment clinician may use the Check a vaccination appointment/Check-In app to bring up the patient's NHS number to find them more easily in the Point of Care system.

There are 5 different user groups in Q-Flow. The group a user is assigned to determines their permissions in Q-Flow and which tasks they can perform. A user’s Top Unit determines which region or site(s) the user can perform these tasks for.

Each user must have their own account. There is no limit to the number of user accounts per site. However, it is important that only appropriate people have access to Q-Flow and the Personal Identifiable Data it holds.

Further information can be found in the creating and managing user accounts guidance.

NHS Site managers

Site managers have permissions to perform the following tasks:

• manage details of site(s), for example address, accessibility features
• create and manage user accounts for arrival stewards, assessment clinicians and site managers
• create and edit appointment availability
• view and manage booked appointments
• view reports
• bulk reschedule appointments

For further assistance, contact the vaccine service desk by emailing vaccineservicedesk@england.nhs.uk or calling 0300 200 1000.

NHS Site managers (read only)

Site managers (read only) have permissions to perform the following tasks:

• view details of site(s), for example address, accessibility features
• view user account details
• view appointment availability
• view booked appointments
• view reports

Contact your site manager for any further assistance.

NHS Arrival stewards

Arrival stewards have permissions to perform the following tasks:

• use the Check a vaccination appointment/Check-In app
• view details of appointments, including patient details
• check patients in for their appointments

Contact your site manager for any further assistance.

NHS Assessment clinicians

Assessment clinicians have permissions to perform the following tasks:

• use the Check a vaccination appointment/Check-In app
• view details of appointments, including patient details

Contact your site manager for any further assistance.

NHS Reporters

Reporters have permissions to view reports.

Contact your site manager for any further assistance.