UK doctors and travel firms warn of delays in processing claims after global IT outage | NHS

NHS patients have been warned that GP services “cannot resume immediately”, and stranded holidaymakers have been told it could take “days” to get them back to their destinations, as the effects of Friday’s global IT outage continue.

CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm at the heart of the crisis, said Sunday it had deployed a patch for the “flaw” in its software that has wreaked havoc worldwide for companies that use Microsoft operating systems.

But the outage has caused a delay to crucial services, including the NHS, which will take time to clear, the British Medical Association (BMA) said.

“Friday was one of the most difficult days in recent times for GPs across England,” said Dr David Wrigley, vice-chair of GPC England, the GP representative body at the BMA.

“Without a clinical IT system, many were forced to revert to pen and paper to serve their patients.

“While GPs and their teams have been working hard to care for as many patients as possible, without access to the information they need, much of the work has had to be postponed until next week.”

Wrigley said the temporary loss of the Emis medical records system used by GPs had caused a “significant” delay.

He added: “Even if we could guarantee that the problem would be fully resolved on Monday, GPs would still need time to catch up on work lost over the weekend, and NHS England would need to make it clear to patients that normal service cannot resume immediately.

People calling the NHS 111 hotline with urgent, non-life-threatening health concerns have been told the outage means information given to call handlers may not be passed on to the hospitals or clinics callers are asked to visit.

Computer systems affected by the CrowdStrike issue, triggered by a software update on Friday, have largely returned to normal.

But the impact on busy summer holiday flight schedules means the global air transport network is still suffering disruption.

Some stranded air passengers have been warned it could take “several days” to reach their destination and there may be no accommodation for them in the meantime as hotels are very busy during the peak summer holiday season.

Budget airline Wizz Air said its systems were operational but warned that flight schedules would take “some time to return to normal”.

The airline said customers could rebook or request a refund through their online accounts.

The airline, however, admitted it might not be able to find suitable accommodation for stranded passengers, promising to refund customers if they could find somewhere to stay “within reason”. It did not specify what it considered reasonable.

Travel company TUI said it had cancelled 11 flights from five UK airports on Sunday, after scrapping 32 flights from 10 airports on Friday, blaming the impact of the CrowdStrike outage on its airline’s crew system.

These cancellations mean that some packages have been cancelled at short notice.

Flight and hotel customers who were due to travel on a cancelled flight will be able to change their holiday to any other TUI package without paying any administration fees, including a 10% ‘rebooking incentive’ if the new holiday is more expensive.

Customers will also receive a £200 voucher for future travel, or £100 for children.

Customers who wish to cancel their trip will receive a full refund, along with the voucher. Customers who have booked a flight only will automatically receive a refund for cancelled trips.

The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority wrote to airlines on Friday to remind them of their obligation to help travellers by providing alternative flights, refreshments and accommodation if needed. It told them the outage was likely to be considered an “extraordinary circumstance”, meaning they would not have to pay fixed compensation.

Airlines’ struggle to return to normal service was not made any easier by weather restrictions imposed on European skies on Saturday.

EasyJet said it was not affected by the CrowdStrike outage, but was still struggling with flight delays caused by bad weather.

Customers can rebook or receive a refund, hotel accommodation and meals if needed.

On Sunday, CrowdStrike said the outage had been identified and a “fix has been deployed.”

“We understand the seriousness of the situation and are deeply sorry for any inconvenience and disruption.”