Silicon Practice collapse disrupts online access at about 500 GP practices
About 500 GP practices have been affected after Silicon Practice, which ran chatbots and online consultations, entered administration, disrupting websites and patient access.
How it was covered
- BBC One was the only channel found covering it, concentrating on the collapse's impact on online GP access and patient contact.
- Channel 5, Channel 4, GB News, ITV and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
- BBC News: covered online, not found on air.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
BBC One West reported that GP websites and online consultation services have been disrupted after Silicon Practice, a provider of chatbots and online consultation tools for hundreds of surgeries, entered administration. The report said thousands of patients in England and Wales have been unable to get access to GP services online. Some surgery websites crashed and patients trying to log in saw blank pages.
The report said health leaders had warned of significant disruption. It quoted a warning that when such a system goes down, the impact can be huge for patients trying to find information about their surgery or contact it. It added that practices may have to return to telephone contact, and some may not have enough staff on the phones because so much work had moved online.
According to the report, NHS England said around 500 GP practices had been affected. That is out of about 6,000 practices in England, roughly one in 12. NHS England said most practice websites were running normally and advised patients who could not get access to contact their surgery by phone or in person.
The report said all practices must now offer online booking of consultations and appointments, and that 40% of appointments are now done that way. A spokesperson for the Royal College of GPs said website failures can be hugely disruptive for patients and place additional pressures on already stretched practice teams. The spokesperson said affected practices must receive prompt practical support from NHS England and NHS organisations to restore their websites.
The report named London, Norfolk, Gloucestershire and South Wales among the areas hit by the online failures. Some practices told the BBC it could take time to find new website hosts. Phone lines were getting busier.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Silicon Practice entered administration, and NHS England reported that around 500 GP practices were affected, including practices in London, Norfolk, Gloucestershire and South Wales. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC One West treated the story as a primary care access disruption, leading with the impact on patients and the fallback to phone and in-person contact. It combined NHS England's affected-practice figures with a warning from the Royal College of GPs about pressure on stretched practice teams, and it named London, Norfolk, Gloucestershire and South Wales as affected areas. The tone was explanatory and service-focused rather than political.
- “When something like that goes down and depending on how reliant you've become on your website It can have a huge knock-on impact for patients”
- “Affected practices must receive prompt practical support from NHS England and NHS organizations to restore their websites”
- “it may take time to find new website hosts and phone lines were getting busier”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.