Microsoft Outage Cuts NHS Email, GP Online Forms and Pharmacy Links, Though Clinical Systems Are Reported Working
Trusts, GP surgeries and pharmacies across the UK lost email on Friday, patients were told to keep appointments and phone, and NHS leaders say care systems are running.
Friday, November 13, 2026/3 min read
The global Microsoft 365 outage has cut email and online contact at NHS trusts, GP surgeries and pharmacies across the UK, with patients told to keep their appointments, phone instead of writing, and expect possible delays to prescriptions. NHS leaders say clinical and operational systems are still working. As this is published, around 11:45 UTC on Friday 13 November, Microsoft has reported early signs of stabilisation but not a full recovery.
Sir Ciarán Devane, chief executive of the NHS Alliance, said some NHS services were affected, notably email, but that all clinical and operational systems appeared to be working effectively, according to a BBC report carried by Yahoo. The Guardian, in a report republished by AOL, said staff across the NHS reported being unable to reach email and IT systems, and that some NHS organisations apologised on social media and asked patients to phone rather than email.
Which NHS trusts and hospitals have been affected?
Gloucestershire NHS Foundation Trust said staff were temporarily unable to send or receive emails, and asked people with urgent enquiries to call the clinic or switchboard directly, in a BBC West report on Yahoo. Bristol NHS Foundation Trust said essential services were continuing as normal, and BSW Community Health said it was running on business continuity plans, the same report said. It added that patients should keep appointments unless contacted, and that phone lines were busier than usual.
London's Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust said on its website that it could not send or receive email but that its services were running as usual and procedures were going ahead as planned. It told patients to attend as scheduled and follow the instructions they had already received. According to LADbible, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust asked patients to use its usual phone services instead of email, and NHS Grampian said some GP practices had lost access to the Hosted Vision system while telephone lines kept working.
What does it mean for GP surgeries and pharmacies?
The BBC reported that some surgeries asked patients not to send messages through their websites, and practices in Hampshire and Shropshire told patients to phone or call in if the matter was urgent. LADbible said some practices could not reach Rapid Health, the online consultation system, and told patients not to submit routine requests through it. The National Pharmacy Association said pharmacies were having trouble communicating with GP practices and some patients, so waits could be longer and some prescriptions delayed, per the BBC. The Guardian said pharmacy sources could not reach email, which hampered contact with surgeries about prescriptions.
Are 111, ambulances and 999 affected?
Rachel Harrison, the GMB union's national secretary, said the outage was having a serious impact on ambulance services and NHS trusts, and that staff could not refer patient details in the normal way, creating a backlog, the BBC and the Guardian reported. She said emergency and life-threatening call-outs appeared unaffected. That is the union's account, and the pieces cited here carry no matching statement from NHS England. The BBC also reported that London Ambulance Service said its critical platforms do not use Microsoft.
What should patients do?
The advice in these reports is consistent: keep scheduled appointments unless told otherwise, phone the clinic, switchboard or reception rather than emailing, and expect some prescription delays. The open questions are how quickly email is restored and whether the backlog from Thursday and Friday clears before the weekend.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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