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 to your NHS account. The NHS 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.9TtSrW0hzOs |
Purpose
Helps keep the site secure by preventing cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks |
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.Session |
Purpose
Remembers your pages input and states across multiple pages to improve your experience |
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 the NHS website privacy policy.