GP appointments cancelled and card payments affected as global IT outage hits Channel Islands

  • ITV Channel reporter Emma Volney reflects on a day of disruption across the Channel Islands and further afield

A major global IT outage has hit the Channel Islands with GP appointments cancelled, card payments not working and BACS bank transfers affected.

Two easyJet flights between Jersey and Edinburgh have also been cancelled.

Schools are open as normal but the registration system SIMS has been impacted.

Follow the latest updates from Friday 19 July below:

GP Appointments, Nursing and Home Care

Some GP visits have been cancelled as the patient records system is down so doctors cannot access test results, medical history and prescriptions.

Island Medical Centre on Gloucester Street in St Helier says "all appointments will need to be rescheduled".

Dr James Mair explains: "We just don't have any way of accessing your records, it's a very strange and unsettling situation and we've never known it to go out across the whole of the UK.

"It's important to say that the surgeries are all open, doctors are all in work and if you've got a medical problem, we're very happy to see you."

Other GP surgeries are stressing that they would like patients to go to appointments as normal, unless they are advised not to attend.

  • "It's a very strange and unsettling situation" - Jersey GP Dr James Mair says the global IT outage has signficiantly impacted their ability to treat patients

Jersey's General Hospital and Guernsey's Princess Elizabeth Hospital remain open as normal.

Family Nursing and Home Care are affected although clinics remain open with essential and urgent home visits prioritised. Anyone with concerns should call 01534 443600

Payments and Banking

Many organisations across the Channel Islands reported issues with accepting card payments on Friday morning including Waitrose, Voisins, World Duty Free and Beau Sejour Leisure Centre but these problems now seem to have been largely resolved.

ATMs are working as normal, the BACS payment system has been restored and Butterfield Banking Systems are back up and running after a brief outage.

People are being advised to carry cash if possible as there may be further intermittent issues with card terminals.

Travel

The 1pm easyJet EZY305 flight from Edinburgh to Jersey and its 3:05pm EZY306 return service have been cancelled.

Ports of Jersey which operates Jersey Airport and Elizabeth Ferry Terminal explains: "A knock-on effect on inbound flights is possible as some airports are manually checking paper boarding cards.

"We're continuing to monitor any impact on inbound flights and have updated digital screens around the Airport with information."

Jersey Harbour operations are unaffected.

Systems for Guernsey Airport including the airline Aurigny and Guernsey Harbour are running as normal, although some stores' payment software may be affected.

The IT outage also affected travel agent Tui who were unable to make or amend any bookings or give quotes for holidays on Friday morning.

World Duty Free was closed at Jersey Airport on Friday morning due to the global IT outage but has since reopened. Credit: Ports of Jersey

Government Response

UPDATED Sunday 21 July:

Jersey government has stated: "The Modernisation & Digital team are pleased to report that all frontline systems have now been restored.

"M&D will continue to monitor the situation and further updates will be sent out if there is a change to the situation."

Matt Palmer, Director of the Jersey Cyber Security Centre (JCSC) explains: "An issue with Microsoft Azure/Microsoft 365 means that many businesses lost access to the services they need to run effectively. This has now been resolved by Microsoft, but there are ongoing effects.

"A separate issue with an update to CrowdStrike, a widely-used IT security software, has left affected machines non-functional. There is a way to fix this issue, but it will take some time to implement."

CrowdStrike has apologised, explaining that the IT issue is "not a security incident or cyberattack" and "a fix has been deployed".

Company president George Kurtz adds the problem is not affecting Mac or Linux users.

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