London: England’s national stadium Health Service (NHS) said a global technological disruption On Friday, the booking of medical appointments had been interrupted and patient recordsbut emergency services had not been affected.
The disruption, which has been linked to cyber security firm Collective strike and its impact on the functioning of Microsoft Windows, affecting the operations of multiple industries around the world, from airlines to banking to broadcasting.
NHS England said it was aware of an issue with its EMIS patient and records system following the disruption, “which is causing disruption to the majority of GP practices”.
“The NHS has long-standing measures in place to manage disruption, including the use of paper patient records and handwritten prescriptions, and the usual telephone systems to communicate with your GP,” an NHS spokesperson said.
“There is currently no known impact on 999 or emergency services, so people should use these services as they normally would.”
He Labor Party The UK won a national election earlier this month and new health minister Wes Streeting said the NHS was “broken” and ordered an independent inquiry into the state of the health service.
It is also in talks with junior doctors to end strikes that the previous government says undermined efforts to reduce long waiting lists.
Adding to the list of problems, the NHS suffered a cyber attack last month that hit a laboratory that processes blood test results, disrupting thousands of appointments and operations.
A UK government security source said Friday’s global service disruption was not being treated as a malicious act.
NHS England added that patients should attend any appointments they have already booked as usual, but only contact their doctor if it is urgent.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, writing by Alistair Smout; editing by Kate Holton and Susan Fenton)
