‘Dozens of GP surgeries under threat of closure’

MORE THAN 70 GP surgeries in Wales are “at risk” of being handed back to their health board or closing, it has been revealed.

A new general practice “heat map”, created by the British Medical Association (BMA) in Wales, shows that 74 practices face an uncertain future. This could be because doctors are retiring, moving away or have decided to quit.

It comes as a new survey shows a lack of doctors and exhaustion is preventing many GP surgeries from providing an out-of-hours service. The poll saw nearly twothirds of respondents cite exhaustion as the main barrier for not providing the service.

NHS computer systems in Wales were restored last night after a technical glitch left many staff unable to access patient records yesterday.

The Welsh NHS reported a widespread failure in its IT systems yesterday.

A Welsh Government spokeswoman said a technical issue affected two NHS Wales Data Centres based in Blaenavon and Cardiff Bay.

She said: “This is under investigation by the NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS) and is being dealt with as a priority.”

Email and intranet services were also said to be affected by the problem but it was not believed to be a cyber attack.

Doctors reported that they were unable to access medical notes, appointments systems, repeat prescriptions, and other similar data.

It affected most health boards across Wales including Hywel Dda, Cardiff and Vale, ABMU, Betsi Cadwaladr, Aneurin Bevan and Powys.

The Welsh Ambulance Service also reported problems with its IT systems.

Dr David Bailey, chairman of BMA’s Welsh Council, said: “We are concerned to hear that NHS Wales’ computer systems have been affected by a technical issue.

“BMA Cymru Wales has heard reports from some members that they are experiencing issues affecting emails, the internet and other systems, in both primary and secondary care.

“This will no doubt cause a major disruption to the NHS at a time when demand is already unprecedented.

“Welsh patients are those who will ultimately be affected, particularly if this results in doctors and other healthcare providers being unable to view medical records. We hope the situation is resolved quickly.”

The Welsh Government issued a further statement just after 5pm yesterday which stated: “The NHS Wales Informatics Service have confirmed that all systems are now back although there may be a backlog affecting some areas.

“They have assured us that there were no data security issues. The cause of the issue remains under investigation.”