Hundreds of NHS GP practice websites across England and Wales have gone offline after the software provider behind them reportedly entered administration, potentially affecting thousands of patients.
The company, named as Silicon Practice, says on its website that it 'proudly serves 1,000 websites' behind GP practices and has been partnered with the NHS since 2005. A notice for administration was filed by its parent company, Schappit Ltd, earlier this month, according to ITV.
Practices report sudden outage
A notification from one affected surgery claimed the administration happened 'without a warning.' The exact number of affected GP surgeries has not been announced, although NHS England confirmed that sites relying on Silicon Practice would be affected.
GP patients across London, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire and Swansea are understood to have received a text message alert warning that their practice website was not available, according to ITV.
Patient guidance issued
One message sent by Southgate Surgery in north London told patients: 'Our website (for routine issues only) is currently unavailable because our provider went into administration without warning. We apologise for the inconvenience. This is temporary while we find a new provider.'
When Metro tried to access the website this morning, it led to a bad gateway error message. Grange Street Surgery's website in St Albans, Herts, and Cleevelands Medical Centre and the Royal Well GP Surgery, both in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, also displayed a bad gateway error this morning when Metro tried to access them.
Cleevelands Medical Centre told patients in a social media post: 'Important notice: Our website is currently unavailable. Our website provider has unfortunately gone into administration, so our website is down. This is affecting many GP practices across Gloucestershire, not just ours. We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.'
NHS England response
The practice advised patients to still access services via the NHS app for appointment booking and SystmOnline, and in urgent medical issues to contact NHS 111.
A spokesperson for NHS England said: 'While the majority of GP practice websites are running as normal, some practices which use Silicon Practice will be affected by the company going into administration. If your GP practice website is unavailable and you need help, you should contact your practice by phone or in person as usual.'
