NHS warns of risk to GP patient data after website vendor collapse

The collapse of Silicon Practice Digital Health Solutions, owned by Schappit Ltd and now in administration, has disrupted the websites and online services of potentially hundreds of UK GP practices. Some practice websites have gone offline, leaving managers to handle extra work and find ways to communicate with patients while replacement digital channels are arranged. NHS England, although it does not directly run most GP practices, has warned practices and health organizations that the disruption could affect patient information and continuity of care.

NHS England’s guidance prioritizes preserving historical patient information that may not be held in clinical systems, managing existing online consultation requests without adding new ones, and providing alternative ways for patients to access services. Practices should assess whether data availability, integrity, confidentiality or recoverability has been compromised enough to require reporting to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Integrated Care Boards, which oversee GP IT arrangements, are expected to coordinate recovery, contact affected organizations, and review business-continuity and disaster-recovery plans. The failure also raises questions about checks performed before Schappit joined a government supplier framework in July. GP technology campaigner Marcus Baw has offered an open-source website template that practices can deploy free, potentially bringing website control back in-house.