Global Microsoft Outage Causes Serious NHS Disruption as Millions Affected Worldwide

A major global Microsoft outage has caused serious disruption across the NHS, leaving healthcare workers unable to access emails, patient communications and essential IT systems as millions of people worldwide experience problems with the technology company’s services.

The disruption began on Thursday evening and continued into Friday morning, affecting Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Exchange Online and other Microsoft 365 applications. Hospitals, GP surgeries, ambulance services, pharmacies and government organisations have reported difficulties accessing systems used for everyday operations.

The GMB union warned that the outage was having a serious impact on NHS trusts and ambulance services. Staff working within NHS 111 services have reportedly been unable to refer patient information through affected systems, creating backlogs and raising concerns about delays to care.

GP practices have also reported difficulties processing urgent correspondence, referrals and test results, while pharmacies have experienced problems communicating with surgeries about prescriptions. Some patients have been warned to expect delays in appointments and access to medication. Remote therapy sessions have also been disrupted.

The disruption extends well beyond healthcare. Police forces, schools, airlines, businesses and government departments across multiple countries have been affected, highlighting the scale of global reliance on Microsoft’s digital infrastructure.

Microsoft has confirmed that the problems are linked to overloaded infrastructure, with attempts to restore services proving more complicated than anticipated. Some servers became unresponsive again when traffic was reintroduced, forcing engineers to explore alternative recovery measures.

The company has ruled out a cyberattack and reported early signs of stabilisation, although service capacity has not yet returned to normal levels.

For NHS staff already working under significant pressure, the outage has created additional challenges in coordinating care, communicating with colleagues and responding to patients. The incident also raises wider questions about the resilience of essential healthcare systems when a major technology provider experiences prolonged disruption.

Microsoft continues to work towards restoring full services, with no confirmed time for complete recovery.

This is a developing story and will be updated as further information becomes available.

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