NHS services across Cumbria have been affected by the global IT issues affecting Microsoft systems.
The North Cumbria Integrated Care Foundation NHS Trust, which looks after the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven and Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary, plus community hospitals, said its urgent and emergency services are experiencing a higher number of patients.
Online booking systems for appointments for surgeries are also affected.
It added: “Our local GPs and community teams use the EMIS system, which is currently down.
“As a result, community teams are operating with paper records today. If you have a telephone appointment with us, it may be affected.
“For life-threatening emergencies or urgent care needs, our A&E departments are available.
“Our Urgent Treatment Centres in Penrith and Keswick are open for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions.
“If your condition is not urgent you may have a longer wait no matter which service you use today.”
Check the average wait time for A&ES and treatment centres in north Cumbria here: ncic.nhs.uk/locations/emergency-care-hub
People are asked to think about alternative services such as a pharmacy or 111.nhs.uk
Major IT outages have hit industries across the world, with almost 1,400 flights cancelled and banking, healthcare and shops affected.
Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike said a defect in one of its software updates hit Windows operating systems.
The firm said: “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”
