Business & Technology
NHS IT outages disrupt 274,620 patient interactions
NHS England and five of the UK’s largest hospital trusts recorded 274,620 IT incidents in 2025. Analysis of Freedom of Information data also found that major outages disrupted tens of thousands of patient interactions.
The figures cover Manchester University, Guy’s and St Thomas’, Newcastle Hospitals, Mid and South Essex, Barts Health and NHS England. They point to repeated disruption across both local systems and wider incidents, with effects ranging from cancelled operations to delayed routine appointments.
On the day of the Synnovis ransomware attack, the five trusts reported that 14,287 operations and appointments were cancelled or moved. During the global IT outage in July 2024, 12,528 patient interactions were disrupted across the same group. Another major incident in October 2025 led to 8,527 disruptions across four of the five trusts.
The data suggests routine care absorbed most of the disruption. Information from three of the five trusts showed that appointments accounted for an average of 95% of total patient disruptions, indicating that the impact extended well beyond surgical procedures.
That pattern matters for a health service already under pressure to reduce waiting lists and improve access to care. Missed or delayed appointments can affect follow-up consultations, diagnostics, preventative treatment and scheduled operations.
The findings also exposed uneven reporting across NHS organisations. Some trusts said they did not hold data linking IT incidents to patient care, while others could not provide figures on incident duration or the total number of incidents during the year.
This suggests the full effect on services may be greater than the published totals. Because the data depends on what individual organisations were able to record and return, gaps in record-keeping make it difficult to build a complete picture of where outages occur, how long they last and which services are most affected.
Reporting gaps
The variation in responses points to a wider problem in how digital disruption is measured across the health service. Without common reporting standards, comparisons between trusts are difficult and national oversight is limited.
Several of the largest disruptions were tied to events outside an individual trust’s direct control. The Synnovis incident affected pathology services in London, while the global IT outage in July 2024 hit organisations across sectors. This shows how NHS services can be exposed to problems involving suppliers and broader technology systems, as well as their own internal infrastructure.
At the same time, the aggregate total of more than 274,000 incidents in one year suggests smaller IT failures remain a frequent part of day-to-day operations. Not every incident will have led to patient harm or widespread service disruption, but the volume underlines how dependent frontline care has become on stable digital systems.
Paula Lender-Swain, regional director, public sector UK, Dynatrace, said: “The data clearly shows that NHS IT outages are a widespread issue that isn’t confined to individual trusts or one-off events. Outages are occurring at scale across multiple regions, with thousands of patient interactions affected on a single day – and not just the operations that are already being widely reported. With digital disruption now a system-wide challenge, IT outages can no longer be regarded as simply a technical issue. They have a direct and measurable impact on patients’ ability to access care when and where they need it.”
She added: “When systems go down, it’s routine services like appointments that are most affected. That not only has a direct impact on NHS waiting lists but also threatens early diagnosis and preventative treatment.”
Wider pressure
The data comes as the NHS seeks to expand its use of digital services and artificial intelligence across administration and clinical care. That ambition increases the importance of reliable infrastructure, especially in hospitals where appointments, records, diagnostics and communications depend on interconnected systems.
Lender-Swain said: “Without consistent, centralised reporting, there’s no joined-up picture of how IT outages are affecting patient care and valuable clinician time, making it harder to identify patterns, address root causes and fully understand the impact on services.”
She added: “As the NHS looks to deliver on its ambition to become one of the most AI-enabled healthcare systems in the world, it must first address these foundational gaps in visibility and resilience. Without a clear, real-time understanding of system performance and patient impact, organisations risk operating with blind spots. By strengthening observability and unifying data across systems, the NHS can move from reacting to incidents to managing them proactively – reducing disruption, supporting staff and ensuring infrastructure is ready for the next phase of digital healthcare.”
Celebrating both GCSE and A-Level Results Days, the chain will offer the popular dish to students who buy one of its bubble teas.
The free offer is available at all 42 Rosa’s Thai restaurants across England and Wales.
To avail of the free noodles, students need to register on Rosa’s Thai website for a unique code, which they should present at the restaurant together with a copy of their results.
Rosa’s Thai has a new range of bubble tea flavours, including Ube-Taro, Matcha-Coconut, Mango Sticky Rice, and Milo Chocolate Milk, as well as favourites like Home-brewed Thai Tea with Tapioca, and Lychee Mango with mango boba.
Students can sign up for their free Pad Thai at rosasthai.com/result-day-free-pad-thai and find their nearest restaurant at rosasthai.com/locations.
The London Mint Office, which distributes commemorative coins and medals, appointed administrators on July 31 after 20 years in business.
The company’s website now displays a message confirming the appointment of Michael Magnay and Jonny Marston of Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP as joint administrators.
A spokesman for Alvarez and Marsal said: “On July 31 2026, Michael Magnay and Jonny Marston of Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP were appointed as Joint Administrators of The London Mint Office Limited in administration (the “Company”).
“Regrettably, the Company’s liquidity challenges have led to a number of immediate redundancies. We are supporting the affected employees through the redundancy process.
What Happens When a Company Goes Into Administration?
“The affairs, business and property of the Company are being managed by the Joint Administrators who act as agents of the Company and without personal liability.”
The announcement confirms that it is no longer possible to purchase coins or medals through the company’s website.
The London Mint Office operates a distribution centre in Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, where it employs a significant number of people.
Administration is a formal insolvency process triggered when a business cannot meet its financial obligations.
An insolvency practitioner is appointed to manage the company’s affairs and may attempt to restructure the business or sell off assets to repay creditors.
What happens when a company goes into Liquidation?
Founded in 2006, The London Mint Office describes itself as “one of the UK’s most trusted suppliers of historic, commemorative, and collector coins.”
It is part of Samlerhuset AS, a Norwegian company based near Oslo and one of Europe’s largest distributors of commemorative coins and medals.
Samlerhuset’s website states that it offers “provide a wide range of coins from ancient to modern, originating from virtually every country in the world.”
The London Mint Office has advised anyone with an interest in the company’s assets to contact the administrators at INS_THLMOL@alvarezandmarsal.com.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally decided that both discounters should be added to the Groceries Market Investigation (Controlled Land) Order 2010, which currently applies to Asda, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose.
This order is designed to prevent large grocery retailers from using land agreements to block competitors from opening nearby stores, often through restrictive covenants or exclusivity terms.
Juliette Enser, executive director of competition enforcement and markets at the CMA, said: “We want everyone to have the best choice of supermarket and range of prices when buying their groceries.
“To ensure this happens, we put rules in place to prevent big supermarket chains blocking rival stores from opening nearby – and now we propose applying those rules to Aldi and Lidl too.
“This is about allowing shoppers to choose where they spend their money and levelling the playing field for all major supermarkets.
“Today’s proposals are provisional and we welcome views before deciding the best way forward.”
The CMA’s review found that Aldi, Lidl GB, and Lidl NI now meet the criteria of ‘Large Grocery Retailers’ (LGRs) due to their store footprint, nationwide presence, procurement model, and the breadth of their grocery range.
Aldi and Lidl were originally excluded from the 2010 order as ‘limited assortment discounters’, offering a smaller selection of products compared to traditional supermarkets.
However, the CMA’s provisional findings indicate that this is no longer the case.
All three now operate large grocery stores, each with more than 1,000 square metres of shop floor space, and offer a full range of products, though with less category choice than some competitors.
They also purchase goods directly from suppliers through integrated wholesaling.
With the UK grocery market estimated to be worth £215 billion, Aldi and Lidl are now ranked among the top five retailers by market share.
The CMA is seeking feedback from stakeholders before reaching a final decision.
Aldi and Lidl could join the other supermarket chains later this year.
The CMA is inviting views until 5pm on Monday, September 7, 2026, and will issue its final decision in the autumn after reviewing responses.
If the discounters are included under the order, they will be prevented from using land agreements to limit competition from other supermarket chains.
The CMA aims to ensure competition across the grocery sector to give shoppers more choice and competitive pricing by removing obstacles to new store openings.
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