Global IT outage affecting NHS services
A global IT outage is affecting NHS services on Friday 19th July, including EMIS Web – meaning that it is down for about 60% of GP surgeries. It’s also hitting some pharmacy suppliers and a range of Patient Facing Services. Read the BBC report here.
A security company called CrowdStrike is behind the outage, which does not appear to be a cyber attack. A fix has been identified and EMIS tech teams are working to establish when and how it can be applied. EMIS are working on getting comms out, so please look out for these messages.
We are aware that some Members are experiencing issues with their pharmacy IT systems, including issues with receiving EPS prescriptions.
*What to do if your pharmacy systems are being affected by IT issues*
All NHS IT / EPS / CPCF IT system issues must be reported to your pharmacy system supplier(s) – log the issue with your IT system.
You must ask for a helpdesk reference for each issue you report so that you can follow progress and escalate to other routes if a satisfactory resolution is not reached.
If your IT systems supplier is unable to resolve a problem due to it being outside of their control (e.g. a GP system or national IT infrastructure related), they should:
- a) escalate to NHS National Service Desk (NSD) to co-ordinate resolution; and
- b) report progress to the pharmacy, and the NSD national incident number (NIN).
Details of the full escalation process: https://cpe.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/CPE-Briefing-024.16-Escalating-NHS-IT-and-EPS-issues-updated.pdf
Please follow your business continuity plan in the meantime.
You can find NHS guidance for EPS Prescription Tracker Business Continuity Mode on the following links:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/electronic-prescription-service/eps-clinical-prescription-tracker
In light of this and the extreme pressure this is causing on Emergency departments etc, GP practices may be verbally referring patients to community pharmacies for Pharmacy First or Oral Contraception service (due to no access to referral mechanism currently). Please be aware that this may effect the number of patients presenting for these services until the IT issue is resolved.
We are seeking updates from NHS and other relevant organisations and will keep you updated as we hear more.
Latest update:
EMIS is now back online following the global IT outage and practices and community pharmacies should now be able to access systems. EMIS has sent communications to their users to update on next steps and have asked that today (Monday 22 July) general practices focus on essential activities only.
Thank you to the hard work of general practice and community pharmacy teams in minimising disruption for patients and continuing to provide services throughout this incident.
We recognise there still may be some delays as services recover, particularly with needing to rebook appointments for patients.
Image credit: Freepik
