South East GP practices face internet outages
- 23 April 2026
- GP practices across the south east are experiencing network outages affecting access to clinical systems
- Issues have led to disruption of appointments, online consultations and routine services
- NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit is investigating with suppliers
GP practices in the South East of England are experiencing network outages, which are affecting internet connectivity and access to clinical systems.
NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board said GP practices are “open as normal but some are experiencing difficulty in connecting to the internet”, adding that the issue is being urgently investigated by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit.
In East Sussex, Bexhill Primary Care Network reported on 16 April that it had closed routine and urgent request owing to “a major incident” affecting internet access and leaving doctors “unable to use clinical systems, emails and other online services”.
A spokesperson for NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit, told Digital Health News: “Some GP practices in the South East are currently experiencing intermittent network issues.
“We are working closely with our suppliers to investigate and rectify the problem.
“All networks and data remain secure. Technical workarounds and business continuity plans are being enacted to maintain secure access to systems and files for practice staff.”
Aylesham Medical Practice has been reporting issues on its Facebook page since 15 April. It confirmed last week that it was “experiencing technical issues” with its software system because of “a major incident” in the region affecting multiple surgeries”.
“We are currently unable to access anything with the surgery including econsults.
“The IT team are working on this at present but are unable to give us a time this will be fixed,” the practice added.
In further updates, the practice said that it had been advised by its Primary Care Network to “temporarily turn off online consultations” until the issue was resolved.
NHS Kent and Medway ICB said the issue is not limited to Kent and Medway.
The disruption follows a major IT failure on 19 January 2026 which affected GP practices across Kent and Medway.
A notice from Kent Local Medical Committee at the time said clinicians and administrative teams at most surgeries were unable to access patient records, medication histories, appointment systems or telephone systems.
