Microsoft outage disrupts UK health services, police and schools
A global failure affecting Microsoft services has interrupted access to email and other systems across UK public services, with pharmacies warning of prescription delays.
By Andrew Kovalenko ·
Hospitals, GP surgeries, police forces and educational institutions across the UK faced disruption on Friday, 13 November, as a global Microsoft outage left staff struggling to access essential digital services. Healthcare workers reported problems using email and systems needed to provide care, while pharmacies warned that some patients could wait longer for medicines.
The problems started late on Thursday afternoon, affecting several widely used Microsoft services. Thousands of users around the world reported difficulties sending and receiving messages through Outlook. Microsoft executive vice-president Charles Lamanna said the disruption did not appear to stem from a cyber-attack. By Friday morning, the company reported initial indications that services were beginning to stabilise.
NHS sources described extensive and serious disruption, with staff arriving for work on Friday unable to open their email. The difficulties affected hospitals and GP surgeries, and there were warnings that services would face considerable disruption throughout the day. Some employees could access Microsoft Teams on their phones, but meetings were being cancelled despite that limited access.
Several NHS organisations apologised on social media and asked patients to telephone instead of sending emails. Ambulance services were also reported to have been affected. Rachel Harrison, national secretary of the GMB union, said the outage was having a serious effect on ambulance and NHS trusts, although emergency and life-threatening callouts appeared to be unaffected.
Pharmacy sources said losing email access had hampered communication with some GP practices about prescriptions, substantially increasing waiting times for medicines. The National Pharmacy Association said the Microsoft problems were disrupting access to NHS email and making it harder for pharmacies to contact GP surgeries and some patients. It asked people to be patient with pharmacy teams as waits and prescription delays could be longer than usual.
Government engineers were working with Microsoft to assess the consequences of the outage, according to Luke Pollard, the minister for defence readiness and industry. Speaking to Times Radio, he warned that more people could encounter difficulties as they began their working day. The Welsh government said it was putting contingency arrangements in place.
Pollard also argued that the disruption underlined the need to make systems more resilient to technology failures. In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said people expected technology to function consistently and linked some of the disruption they experienced to growing dependence on digital services.
The Metropolitan, Northampton, Hertfordshire, South Wales, Dyfed-Powys and Dorset police forces all reported affected systems. Schools and universities also lost access to email. Microsoft products used by MPs were unavailable, and a parliamentary spokesperson confirmed that the worldwide email problem was affecting parliamentary network users. Parliament was working with Microsoft to restore services as quickly as possible.
