Thousands of GP practices in England have been hit by the global IT outage, which has caused 'significant disruption' to appointment bookings and other services.
NHS England reported a problem with its EMIS web system, which is reportedly used by around 60% of practices in England.
The PA news agency understands that around 3,700 GP practices could be affected.
The NHS is aware of a global IT outage and an issue with a GP appointment and patient records system.
If you have an appointment, please come unless you have been told otherwise. If you need help, use 111 online or by phone, and in emergencies call 999.
➡️https://t.co/M4QxHP2GqM
- NHS England (@NHSEngland) July 19, 2024
An NHS England spokeswoman said: "The NHS is aware of a global IT outage and an issue with EMIS, an appointments and patient records system, which is causing disruption to most GP practices.
"The NHS has long-standing measures in place to manage the disruption, including the use of paper patient records and handwritten prescriptions, and the usual telephone systems to contact your GP.
"There are currently no known impacts on 999 or emergency services, so people should use these services as they normally would.
"Patients should attend appointments unless otherwise instructed. Only contact your GP if it is urgent, otherwise you can use 111 online or call 111."
We are experiencing some delays in our hospital with our administrative services due to the global IT outage. We ask patients and visitors to be patient while we use alternative methods.
- Salisbury Hospital (@SalisburyNHS) July 19, 2024
GP practices report on social media that they do not have access to patient files and cannot make appointments due to the outage.
The story continues
Pharmacies also reported problems with accessing prescriptions from GP practices, saying this would impact the supply of medicines to patients.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "Our members are telling us that today's outage is causing significant disruption to GP practices and IT systems. Practices using EMIS IT systems appear to be particularly affected.
"Disruptions like these impact our access to important clinical information about our patients, as well as our ability to book tests, make referrals and determine the most appropriate treatment plan.
"GPs and their practice teams will do everything they can to minimise the impact on patients, and are working hard to ensure that they still receive the care they need wherever possible...
"We urge all patients to be patient and, if their problem is not urgent, to wait until the outage is resolved."
EMIS Web is the most widely used clinical system for primary care in the UK.
It offers GP practices the ability to make appointments, view records and includes a clinical decision-making tool. It also helps with administration.
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust has reported a critical incident due to disruption to radiotherapy services.
Patients who were scheduled for treatment this morning have been contacted to reschedule.
A statement on its website said the hospital "is now able to provide radiotherapy and appointments will take place as scheduled this afternoon".
However, it was warned that the disruption could affect appointments until next week.
Salisbury District Hospital also confirmed in a social media post that it had been hit.
A spokesman told the PA news agency: "The challenge is in our patient administration system. That means we have moved to manual registration of new patients.
"This is in emergency care, maternity care and other front-door services where people report directly to the hospital. That process is now slow instead of digital.
"The outage had no consequences for outpatients, because appointments continued as normal.
"One of the systems is the staff roster system, which is done six weeks in advance, so at the moment we are not seeing any staff shortages.
"However, we use paper systems to allocate coverage."
West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes Watford General, Hemel Hempstead and St Albans City Hospitals, said the impact of the major IT outage had been "minimal".
Patient service is still ongoing.
Today's global IT outage had only a minor impact on our IT services.
Our patient service is operational and you can still attend your appointments as usual.
If this changes, we will keep you informed.
- West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (@WestHertsNHS) July 19, 2024
A message on X, formerly Twitter, said: "Patient services are still running. We have only experienced a minor impact to our IT services following today's global IT outage.
"Our patient service is up and running and you should still attend appointments as usual. We will keep you informed if this changes.
A spokesperson for the National Pharmacy Association said pharmacies have been affected.
He said: "We are aware that due to global IT outages, community pharmacy services, including obtaining prescriptions from GPs and delivering medicines, have been disrupted today. We urge patients to be patient when visiting their pharmacy.
"We are urgently raising this issue with NHS England."
Patients with 'minor ailments' are being referred to pharmacies by GP surgeries, according to the chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA).
Dr Leyla Hannbeck said: "Pharmacies are experiencing delays in receiving prescriptions through the GP system because systems are down. There are also delays in receiving medicines in stock because of IT system failures at some wholesalers.
"Now that the system for GP appointments is down, more patients are being referred to the pharmacy for minor ailments."
GP practices across the country are experiencing a major IT outage. We expect this to continue for many hours. Please be patient with us during this challenging time.
- Wilmslow Health Centre (@WilmslowHealth) July 19, 2024
Wilmslow Health Centre in Cheshire wrote on X that practices "using the NHS-commissioned GP computer system EMIS currently do not have access to their IT systems".
It added: "This is beyond the control of GP practices. Please be patient with us until our IT systems are back online."
Solihull Healthcare Partnership in the West Midlands said there is a "national problem" with EMIS Web.
On X it said: "Unfortunately there is a national problem with EMIS Web - our clinical computer system.
"This impacts our ability to book/consult patients this morning.
"We will keep patients informed when we can. We apologize for the disruption."
! IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT !
There is a national outage of our booking system EMIS. We are continuing with urgent questions, but ask routine questions to wait until Monday. Please continue to submit your questions via Engage Consult. Thank you.
- Windrush Medical Practice (@WindrushMedical) July 19, 2024
Windrush Medical Practice in Witney, Oxfordshire, said the practice was continuing as normal but urged patients with "routine concerns" to wait until Monday.
The message on X said: "We will continue with urgent questions as usual, but ask that you wait until Monday for routine questions.
"Keep asking your questions through Engage Consult."
Other GP practices affected by the outage have said the problem will have "major implications".
Central Lakes Medical Group in Ambleside wrote on X: "We are being affected by the IT outage.
"This will have a major impact on us, so apologies in advance for any inconvenience and delays on the phone."
Another message from Pocklington Group Practice in East Riding of Yorkshire said: "Due to ongoing Windows issues impacting IT globally, the practice is currently unable to operate as normal.
"This may result in appointments being cancelled and rescheduled. Updates will follow as they become available."
The following message appeared on the website of a GP practice: 'We are experiencing a third party issue that is impacting organisations around the world.
"Our IT support is working with the relevant parties to restore service as quickly as possible.
"We will not have access to our clinical systems and will only be providing a skeletal service. Some patients will unfortunately have to be turned away."
