Computer problems affecting 'majority' of GPs

A majority of the borough's GP surgeries have experienced computer problems

Wigan Borough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has said that a large majority of practices have been affected by a problem with its IT system but all of them have continued to see patients.

Some surgeries reported having no computer facilities for the third day running, while others said they were also experiencing problems with their phone lines.

One surgery said it was writing out urgent prescriptions by hand.

Dr Tim Dalton, Local GP and Chair of the CCG, said: “We are very sorry that there have been issues with the GP IT systems today (Friday). It does effect the large majority of practices, but they are continuing to see and treat patients.

“We have been working extremely hard with the company that manage the system and are testing a solution that seems to be working for practices. This situation is far from ideal, but is fortunately unusual.

"We know what has caused the issue and once we are confident we have solved the problem, we will be exploring how we can minimise the risk of it happening again.”