Microsoft outage disrupts UK health services, delays patient referrals - Punch Newspapers

A Microsoft is pictured during the International AI Summit in Dublin, on October 14, 2026.

An issue affecting Microsoft products around the world was having a “serious impact” on Britain’s state health service, a union leader warned on Friday in a statement.

National Health Service staff receiving emergency calls were “unable to refer patient details in the normal way, which is creating a massive backlog and has the potential for chaos”, Rachel Harrison, public services head at the GMB union, said in the statement.

She added, however, that “emergency and life-threatening call-outs appear to be unaffected”.

Microsoft ruled out “malicious” activity for an outage that has left probably millions without access or with limited access to its services, including Outlook and Teams.

NHS bodies published messages on social media reporting difficulties with Microsoft services.

The National Pharmacy Association, which represents independent pharmacies, told AFP that the problem was affecting their members’ “ability to communicate” with doctors’ offices, causing delays in dealing with patients’ prescriptions.

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