Some NHS systems affected by Microsoft outage

Community pharmacy teams are advised to be aware of an ongoing global Microsoft 365 outage that began yesterday evening (Thursday 12th November) and is continuing to affect UK businesses, NHS organisations and some digital platforms this morning.

Overview

Microsoft: The major global IT outage is affecting Microsoft systems, including Outlook, Teams, and Microsoft Authenticator.

Other digital systems: including some used by pharmacies and GP practices— that rely on Microsoft technology will be experiencing impacts or may do so later. Microsoft is actively working to resolve the issue, though affected services may remain intermittent or unavailable until a full fix is in place. Microsoft have referenced server overloads contributing to the ongoing issues. NHS.net is powered by Outlook.

CPE IT continuity guidance hub

Please refer to the CPE contingency webpage for general guidance and support:

IT and EPS contingency planning

Communicating with patients

The public is being asked for their understanding during this global outage, which is outside of pharmacy teams’ control. If your pharmacy is experiencing knock-on delays, you may wish to let patients know that a global Microsoft outage is currently affecting NHS and healthcare communications, and ask them to bear with your team while services recover.

Impact on CPE support services

Community Pharmacy England has also been affected by the outage. Whilst they currently cannot send and receive emails, their website is still fully functional and anyone who needs support can contact them by phone: 0203 1220 810.

Impact on pharmacy systems and supplier communications

While certain core NHS clinical services such as the NHS Spine are separate from Microsoft 365, pharmacy teams may experience delays receiving emails from local NHS commissioners, GP surgeries, or IT suppliers, as well as disruptions to internal Teams, Outlook, and some Microsoft-related workflows.

IT companies, including pharmacy IT suppliers (see CPE directory of IT suppliers and systems), should be notifying their customers in the event of any ongoing or emerging impacts and resolution via their channels, e.g. their websites, social media, and helpdesk voicemail messaging.

Recommended actions for pharmacy teams

• Use telephone lines for urgent queries: If you are waiting on urgent prescription queries or clinical updates from local GP practices or NHS teams via email, contact them by phone or other available routes instead.
• IT service tickets: NHS and IT supplier helpdesks may be handling more service tickets than usual. Before logging non-urgent IT tickets regarding connectivity, check platform webpages or social media channels for updates. In the event you need to report something CPE have guidance on reporting here: cpe.org.uk/reportit.
• Monitor incoming emails: Avoid repeatedly resending emails where possible, as queued messages should begin filtering through as Microsoft restores full capacity.
• Invoke business continuity plans if needed: If local systems or communications are significantly disrupted, follow your standard pharmacy business continuity plan arrangements and keep a record of any affected services.

Community Pharmacy England is in touch with NHS England and will share more information as it becomes available.