North Devon GP surgeries go offline amid major internet outage

GP surgeries across North Devon were affected by an internet outage earlier today, leaving some unable to take calls or access patient records.

Brannam Medical Centre in Barnstaple, one of the surgeries affected, shared a statement on social media confirming that the issue had impacted surgeries across the area.

In a post, the practice said: “We are currently experiencing an internet outage that is affecting many GP surgeries in the area. Unfortunately, we currently have no internet access or phone service, which means we are unable to answer calls or access patient records at this time. Our team is working hard to resolve the issue as soon as possible. If you require urgent medical help, please contact NHS 111 for advice, or 999 in an emergency. We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience while we work to restore our systems.”

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The outage occurred on the same day that Amazon Web Services (AWS) reported a major technical issue affecting dozens of websites, apps, and online services, including Amazon, Snapchat, Fortnite, and several banks.

AWS said the underlying problem had been fixed, but full recovery could take some time.

North Devon Gazette has contacted NHS Devon ICB, which oversees GP practices across Devon, to ask whether the two incidents are related.

By this afternoon, Brannam Medical Centre confirmed that they were no longer affected and services had returned to normal.