NI health service hit by global IT outages – hospitals and two-thirds of GP practices affected

Holidaymakers whose plans have been disrupted by the global IT outage are being urged to check with their travel insurer to see what they are covered for. 
Many families will have plans for getaways with children on their school holidays. 
MoneySuperMarket Travel Insurance said that if a policy includes travel disruption cover then it may be possible to claim for disruption or losses incurred as a result of a trip being delayed or cancelled. 
This may include alternative accommodation or expenses incurred such as travel, food and drink, possibly stretching to covering the full cost of the holiday if holidaymakers are unable to go. 
But the website added that not all policies cover this as standard, and cover levels, conditions and exclusions can vary between providers, making it important to check with the insurer as a first port of call. 
A spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said: “We can appreciate that it will be very stressful for anyone whose travel plans have been impacted by the IT outage. 
“If your travel insurance policy includes cover for travel disruption then costs that you might incur as a result of travel delays or cancellations, and that are not recoverable from elsewhere, should be included. 
“In the first instance, refunds should be sought from the airline, accommodation provider or tour operator and any bookings made through a credit card may also have recoverable cost protection. 
“If unsure, check with your travel insurer to see what you’re covered for.”

Popular NI visitors attraction, the Gaint’s Causeway is unable to accept card due to the global IT outage. 
In a statement the attraction encouraged customers to pre-book their tickets online. 
 “Due to the worldwide IT outage affecting our card payment device supplier Verifone, we cannot take card payments at the Gaint’s Causeway at the moment. 
“This likely to have a major impact on our operations today, so please bear with us. We can still accept cash payments and process members’ cards. 
“If you are planning on visiting us today, please ensure to pre-book your Visitor Experience Tickets in advance via our website.” 

Due to the ongoing global IT outage, the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium have said they are unable to accept card payments. 
In a statement the attraction said, “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding. Please bring cash for any purchases today. We are working hard to resolve this issue and will update you as soon as possible.” 

An emergency Cobra meeting was held at official-level – rather than ministers – on Friday morning to discuss the IT chaos, Downing Street said. 
A No 10 spokeswoman told reporters: “We recognise the impact this is having on services and the Government is working closely with the respective sectors and industries on this issue, which is affecting services not only across the UK but also globally. 
“Officials have met in the Cobra unit on this this morning and of course are updating ministers regularly on this issue.” 
She said she was not aware of plans for a Cobra gathering with ministers present. 
Asked why Sir Keir Starmer did not chair the meeting of the committee, she said: “The Prime Minister’s had bilaterals with President Zelensky and Cabinet this morning, but all ministers including the Prime Minister are being kept informed with the latest.” 
The spokeswoman also said she is not aware of any Government business being hit by the outage.

The Belfast Telegraph understood that the underlying cause of the issue which caused the global IT outage has been fixed. 
Functionality to Microsoft 365 apps is now returning to normal. 

Staff at London Stansted Airport handed out bottles of water to people queuing on the hot July day, as a global IT outage caused delays. 
Carol Murphy, 58, who was queuing inside the terminal building for a Ryanair flight to go on a 10-day holiday to Vienna, said the situation was “nobody’s fault”. 
“They keep coming round and people who’ve got a flight upcoming, they send them forward,” said the charity worker, of Ealing, west London. 
“I think they’re doing quite well.” 
Student Jack O’Leary, who was queuing for a Ryanair flight to Dublin to go on holiday, said: “We’re quite understanding – it’s a global outage and everything’s pretty chaotic.” 
The 27-year-old, from near Cambridge, added: “We’re very much in stasis mode waiting for something to happen and hoping we can get to Dublin today.”

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said any form of IT outage “is a serious concern”. 
“Our members are telling us that today’s outage is causing considerable disruption to GP practice bookings and IT systems – practices using EMIS IT systems appear to be particularly affected. 
“Any form of disruption to our digital systems is a serious concern for GPs as it directly impacts on the care we can give to our patients. Outages like this affect our access to important clinical information about our patients, as well as our ability to book tests, make referrals, and inform the most appropriate treatment plan.” 
She urged patients to “bear with” GPs until the issue is resolved. 
“We urge all patients to please bear with us and if their issue isn’t urgent then to try and wait until the outage has been resolved. We advise patients to check their practice’s website and social media for relevant information and updates if their IT systems are down. 
“We really hope that the problems can be resolved quickly and that services are restored to normal as soon as possible.”

Whitehall crisis officials are co-ordinating the response to the major IT outage hitting airlines, train companies and banks. 
The Cobra system that deals with matters of national emergency or major disruption has been fired up, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said. 
Ministers are in touch with their sectors to tackle the fallout from the IT failures, with Transport Secretary Louise Haigh saying she is working “at pace with industry” after trains and flights ground to a halt. 
Businesses and institutions around the globe have been knocked offline by the outage, believed to have been caused by a faulty update to widely used cybersecurity software. 
In the UK, transport networks have been thrown into chaos, GP surgeries are unable to book appointments or access patient records and Sky News went off air. 
Restaurants in Parliament appear to be affected too, with catering services only accepting cash payments. 
Mr McFadden, who is in charge of the Whitehall machine, said on X: “Many people are being affected by today’s IT outages impacting services across the country and globally. 
“Ministers are working with their sectors and respective industries on the issue. 
“I am in close contact with teams co-ordinating our response through the COBR response system.” 
It came after the Liberal Democrats demanded ministers convene an urgent meeting of the Cobra emergency committee. 
The party’s Cabinet Office spokesperson, Christine Jardine, said: “The public needs to be reassured that the disruption to their travel or their desperately needed GP appointments will be minimised. 
“Getting critical infrastructure up and running again must be priority number one. The National Cyber Security Centre should also be working with small businesses and other organisations to help them deal with the outage. 
“This once again lays bare the need to improve our digital infrastructure and truly modernise our economy in order to prevent the incidents from happening again.” 
Train companies are reporting delays and there are long queues at airports such as Gatwick, Luton and Edinburgh. 
Transport Secretary Ms Haigh tweeted: “We are aware of IT failures impacting several transport operators and terminals today, and we’re working at pace with industry and across Government on the issue. 
“There are no known security issues at present.”

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, CrowdStrike president George Kurtz said the problem was caused by a “defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts”. 
He said: “This is not a security incident or cyber attack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. 
“We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. 
“We further recommend organisations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. 
“Our team is fully mobilised to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.” 
Mr Kurtz said the issue was not affecting Mac or Linux software.

A traveller at Gatwick Airport queuing for over three-and-a-half hours has described the scene at the travel hub as “bedlam” with staff now handing out water to those stranded. 
Dean Seddon started queuing at 6am to check in for a trip with his social media training company to Miami, Florida, ahead of their scheduled departure at 10am with Norse Atlantic Airways. 
“There are just people everywhere, there must be 400 people in this queue for the check in desk I’m at… it’s just bedlam,” the 42-year-old from Plymouth told the PA news agency. 
“It’s one of those things where you kind of know we’re not going to fly, but you don’t want to leave because you don’t know. 
“(Staff are) doing the best they can but they don’t actually know when it’s going to be fixed, so it is frustrating, but you kind of feel for the staff as well.” 
Mr Seddon said there had been some people getting “agitated” in the queue but overall travellers had remained calm.

A spokeswoman for easyJet, the UK’s biggest airline by passenger numbers, advised customers travelling from Spanish airports to arrive three hours before their flight due to the IT outage. 
She said: “EasyJet’s IT systems have not been directly affected by the Microsoft systems issues this morning, however we are aware that some airports’ systems have been impacted across Europe. 
“This has led to some disruption to flights this morning and we expect some further potential impact to flights today. 
“Customers should expect longer than usual airport queues and we are advising customers travelling from Spanish airports to arrive three hours before their flight. 
“We advise customers due to travel with us today to continue to check the latest updates on their flight on easyJet’s Flight Tracker before making their way to the airport. 
“Although outside of our control, we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”