Cookies on the NHS website
What are cookies?
Cookies are files saved on your phone, tablet or computer when you visit a website.
They store information about how you use the website, such as the pages you visit.
Cookies are not viruses or computer programs. They are very small so do not take up much space.
How we use cookies
We use cookies to:
- make our website work, for example by keeping it secure
- remember which pop-ups you've seen
- measure how you use our website, such as which links you click on (analytics cookies)
- help show you relevant health campaigns on social media
When you log in to the NHS website, you are logging in toyour NHS account. TheNHS account cookies policy will apply while you are using services within your NHS account.
See cookies that make our website work
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| Name .AspNetCore.Antiforgery.# | Purpose Keeps your information safe by checking that requests come from you | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name .ASPXANONYMOUS | Purpose Remembers your activity across multiple pages to improve your experience | Expires 69 days |
| Name _smokefree_session | Purpose Remembers your pages input and states across multiple pages to improve your experience | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name _tobacco_session | Purpose Remembers your pages input and states across multiple pages to improve your experience | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name akavpau_waitingroom | Purpose Makes sure you are not sent back to wait for coronavirus tests to become available once you have been let through to apply for one | Expires Up to 10 minutes after you’ve finished using the ask for a coronavirus test service |
| Name akavpwr_waitingroom | Purpose Makes sure you cannot ask for a coronavirus test when there are none available and that you cannot 'game' the system by clicking refresh multiple times | Expires Up to 30 seconds after you’ve left the page where you wait to ask for a coronavirus test |
| Name ARRAffinity | Purpose Helps stop our site crashing by spreading traffic across web servers | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name ASP.NET_SessionId | Purpose Remembers your pages input and states across multiple pages to improve your experience | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name CAM | Purpose Helps stop our site crashing by spreading traffic across web servers | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name CookieConsent | Purpose Remembers your cookies settings on our website | Expires 1 year |
| Name csrftoken | Purpose Helps keep the site secure by preventing cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks | Expires 1 year |
| Name mobile.display | Purpose Determines if you should see the mobile version of our site | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name mobile.nodisplay | Purpose Determines if you should see the desktop version of our site | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name nhsuk-cookie-consent | Purpose Remembers if you used our cookies banner | Expires When you close the browser (if you do not use the banner) or 1 year (if you use the banner) |
| Name test | Purpose Used to tell us if you have accepted cookies to help with health campaigns | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name WFE | Purpose Keeps you connected to a web server when you use our website | Expires When you close the browser |
| Name .AspNetCore.Mvc.CookieTempDataProvider | Purpose Remembers details from your session across different pages, so you do not need to enter them again | Expires When you close the browser |
Change your cookie settings
Some cookies, like those used to measure how you use our website, are not needed for our website to work.
These cookies can help us make our website better, but we'll only use them if you say it's OK.
How we use the information we collect
To find out how we collect, store and use information about you or your visit, see theNHS website privacy policy.
More inOur policies
Page last reviewed: 30 May 2024
Next review due: 30 May 2027