22 July 2024 – 09:45am

An NHS England spokesperson said: “Systems are now back online, and patients with an NHS appointment this week should continue to attend unless told not to.

“Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff throughout this incident we are hoping to keep further disruption to a minimum, however there still may be some delays as services recover, particularly with GPs needing to rebook appointments, so please bear with us.

“It’s important that patients attend appointments as normal unless told otherwise. You can contact your GP in the usual way, or use your local pharmacy, NHS 111 online or call 111 for urgent health advice.”

10:53am update

An NHS England 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.

“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″.

10:00am update

NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board is aware of a global IT issue which is affecting some primary care services in the region.

It may be necessary for GP practices to rearrange appointments as they manage this issue.  If you have an appointment booked you should attend as planned unless you are advised otherwise.

Work is ongoing to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. It is anticipated that the issue will lead to an increased demand on other services such as NHS111 and urgent treatment centres.

Those who need urgent medical care should call 999 or attend A&E, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk. Please use NHS 111 online for all non-emergency healthcare needs.

More information about when to call 999 and when to go to A&E is available via the national NHS website.

Further updates will be provided on the ICB website, Facebook and X pages as soon as they are available.