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EMIS NHS systems down: GP practices warn patients ‘don’t ring until Monday’ after UK hit by major global IT outage
Most surgeries are affected by the mass tech meltdown, which is also impacting flights, trains, banks and TV channels
GP surgeries are unable to access patient records or book appointments due to a major global IT outage.
Pharmacies have also reported issues with getting prescriptions from doctors and said this would affect the delivery of medicines.
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It is understood that NHS hospitals and emergency services, including 999, are currently unaffected by the tech problems.
Patients should attend their pre-booked appointments as planned unless they are told otherwise, the health service said.
This includes any scheduled slots to give blood.
But those seeking help for "routine concerns" should wait until Monday, and anyone requiring more urgent attention should call 111 or 999, it added.
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EMIS Web is the most widely used clinical system for primary care in the UK.
It enables GP practices to book appointments, examine records and includes a clinical decision support tool as well as helping with admin.
It is understood that most surgeries across England have been impacted by EMIS going down in a suspected issue with CrowdStrike - a cybersecurity firm.
The company is reportedly used by Microsoft to handle various updates to their systems.
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An NHS spokesperson said: "The NHS is aware of a global IT outage and an issue with EMIS, an appointment and patient record system, which is causing disruption in the majority of GP practices.
"The NHS has long standing measures in place to manage the disruption, including using paper patient records and handwritten prescriptions, and the usual phone systems to contact your GP.
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"There is currently no known impact on 999 or emergency services, so people should use these services as they usually would.
"Patients should attend appointments unless told otherwise.
"Only contact your GP if it’s urgent, and otherwise please use 111 online or call 111."
A spokesperson for the National Pharmacy Association said: "We're aware that due to global IT outages that services in community pharmacies, including the accessing of prescriptions from GPs and medicine deliveries, are disrupted today.
"We urge patients to be patient whilst visiting their pharmacy.
"We're urgently raising this issue with the NHS England."
Global services affected by IT outage
UK trains
- Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) - urged passengers to expect disruption due to "widespread IT issues"
- Gatwick Express - warned travellers they are "currently experiencing widespread IT issues"
- South Western Railway - all ticket vending machines are currently non operational - buy tickets online
- National Rail - some train operators are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice train cancellations
- TransPennine Express - some TPE stations and systems are having IT issues - buy tickets online
Airports and airlines
- Manchester Airport - delays for those checking-in for Swissport flights
- London Gatwick - passengers may experience some delays while checking in and passing through security but should still arrive for their normal check-in time
- Ryanair - advise passengers to arrive at the airport three hours in advance of their flight to avoid any disruptions
- Edinburgh Airport - wait times longer than usual
- Stansted Airport - some airline check-in services reverted to being done manually, but main operational systems are unaffected and flights are still operating as normal
- Luton Airport - running manual systems
- Heathrow Airport - affected but flights operational - check with airline on latest journey information
- American Airlines - all flights cancelled
- United and Delta - no flights taking off
- Mumbai Airport - check-in desks shut down for IndiGo, Akasa and Spice Jet flights
- Australian airline Qantas - flights grounded
- Schipol Airport in Amsterdam - flights to and from the Netherlands affected
- Spanish airport association AENA - reported issues at 42 airports
Television Networks
- Sky News - Friday morning breakfast show unable to air but now back on screens with reporter reading from printed notes
- Sky Sports
Britain's GPs
- The Wilmslow Health Centre in Cheshire - without access to their IT systems
- Solihull Healthcare Partnership in the West Midlands - affected ability to book/consult with patients this morning
- Central Lakes Medical Group in Ambleside - stated there has been a "big effect" and delays on the phone expected
- Pocklington Group Practice in the East Riding of Yorkshire - appointments needing to be cancelled and rearranged
- Hulme Hall Medical Group, in Stockport - unable to offer any appointments
- Windrush Medical Practice in Witney, Oxfordshire - continuing as normal for urgent enquiries but ask for routine concerns to wait until Monday
- Grimethorpe Surgery in Barnsley - no access to the clinical system, EMIS Web
- The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) confirmed the IT outage is disrupting community pharmacies
- A surgery in Putney, southwest London - Displaying an error message online to patients who attempt to book
Global hospitals
- Two German hospitals have been forced to cancel emergency operations
- The hospitals, in the northern German cities of Luebeck and Kiel, cancelled all elective operations scheduled for today
Supermarkets and restaurants
- Morrisons are affected
- Some Waitrose and Co-op are now cash only
- Gails and Waterstones experiencing some issues
- Wetherspoons pubs - only accepting cash
- Woolworths and Coles supermarkets in Australia - self service machines not working
Events
- Manchester United ticket release postponed - morning’s ticket release will be postponed until midday and website will remain unavailable
- Banks and supermarkets in Australia including Beyond Bank Australia have also been experiencing issues this morning.
- Various Microsoft services in Japan and New Zealand are also battling tech issues.
The Wilmslow Health Centre in Cheshire wrote on X that practices "using the NHS commissioned GP computer system EMIS are currently without access to their IT systems".
It added: "This is beyond the control of GP surgeries. Please bear with us until we have our IT systems back online."
Windrush Medical Practice in Witney, Oxfordshire, said it is continuing as normal but urged patients with "routine concerns" to wait until Monday.
Its post on X said: "We're continuing as normal for urgent enquiries but ask for routine concerns to wait until Monday.
"Please continue to submit your queries through Engage Consult."
'BIG IMPACT'
Solihull Healthcare Partnership in the West Midlands said there is a "national issue" with EMIS Web.
It said on X: "Unfortunately there is a national issue with EMIS Web - our clinical computer system.
"This will affect our ability to book/consult with patients this morning.
"We will update patients when we can. We apologise for the disruption."
A practice manager in Berkshire told : "We are completely dead in the water.
"We can't see any patients as our systems are down. It's not clinically safe to treat patients because we can't see their notes.
"[We] can't give out prescriptions and even if we do hand-write them, the problem is also affecting the pharmacies."
Other GP surgeries hit by the outage have said the issue "will have a big effect".
This may result in appointments needing to be cancelled and rearranged
Pocklington Group Practice
Central Lakes Medical Group in Ambleside, Cumbria, wrote on X: "We're impacted by the IT outage.
"This will have a big effect on us, so apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused, and delays on the phone."
Another post by Pocklington Group Practice in the East Riding of Yorkshire said: "Due to ongoing Windows issues affecting IT worldwide, the practice is currently unable to function as normal.
"This may result in appointments needing to be cancelled and rearranged. Updates will follow when available."
A message to patients
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said any form of IT outage “is a serious concern”.
"Our members are telling us that today’s outage is causing considerable disruption to GP practice bookings and IT systems – practices using EMIS IT systems appear to be particularly affected," she said.
"Any form of disruption to our digital systems is a serious concern for GPs as it directly impacts on the care we can give to our patients.
"Outages like this affect our access to important clinical information about our patients, as well as our ability to book tests, make referrals, and inform the most appropriate treatment plan."
She urged patients to “bear with” GPs until the issue is resolved.
"We urge all patients to please bear with us and if their issue isn’t urgent then to try and wait until the outage has been resolved," she added.
"We advise patients to check their practice’s website and social media for relevant information and updates if their IT systems are down.
"We really hope that the problems can be resolved quickly and that services are restored to normal as soon as possible."
One GP practice website displayed the following message: "We are affected by a third-party issue that is impacting organisations globally.
"Our IT support is working with the relevant parties to restore service as soon as possible.
"We do not have access to our clinical systems and will be providing a skeleton service only.
"Some patients will unfortunately have to be turned away."
A London practise told visitors to its website: "If your query can wait, please call or contact us when we open on Monday. We apologise for the inconvenience, this is completely out of our control."
Sunlight Group Practice in Birkenhead, Merseyside, said "engineers are currently working to resolve the issue".
"If you have an appointment, please still attend as normal," it added.
Blood is needed 24/7, 365 days a year so we urgently need people to keep filling appointments in coming days, weeks and months
NHS Blood and Transplant
Meanwhile, Brownlow Health Central in Liverpool told patients that prebooked appointments will "be running as normal" but that the practice can currently only deal with "clinically urgent matters".
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA), said: "Pharmacies are experiencing delays in prescriptions arriving through GP system as the systems are down, and there are also delays in receiving medicines in stock due to some wholesalers experiencing IT system failures.
"As the GP appointment system is down more patients are being referred to pharmacies for minor ailments.
"We are asking the public to be patient if there are delays because these issues are outside of our control and we are doing everything we can to ensure patients receive their medicines and treatments."
An NHS Blood and Transplant spokesperson added: "We are calling on donors to book and keep appointments to donate blood to boost NHS resilience at this time.
"There remains a particularly urgent need for O negative blood.
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"Blood donation systems are not affected and we currently have a high number of appointments available at our donor centres in major towns and cities, including London, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham.
"Blood is needed 24/7, 365 days a year so we urgently need people to keep filling appointments in coming days, weeks and months."
When to call 999 for adults and children
You should call 999 in life-threatening emergencies.
For adults, this includes:
- Signs of a heart attack (chest pain, pressure, heaviness, tightness, squeezing)
- Signs of a stroke (face dropping on one side, unable to hold both arms up, difficulty speaking)
- Sudden confusion (doesn't know own name)
- Suicide attempt
- Severe difficulty breathing (unable to speak, choking, gasping)
- Choking
- Heavy bleeding (spraying, pouring, making a puddle)
- Severe injuries (after a serious accident or assault)
- Seizure
- Sudden and rapid swelling (lips, mouth, throat, tongue)
For children, this includes:
- Seizure
- Choking
- Difficulty breathing (grunting noises, stomach sucking under rib cage)
- Unable to stay awake (can't keep eyes open for more than a few seconds)
- Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, tongue or lips
- Limp and floppy (head falls to the side, backwards or forwards)
- Heavy bleeding (spraying, pouring, making a puddle)
- Severe injuries (after a serious accident or assault)
- Signs of a stroke (face dropping on one side, unable to hold both arms up, difficulty speaking)
- Sudden and rapid swelling (lips, mouth, throat, tongue)
- Sudden confusion (agitation, odd behaviour, non-stop crying)
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