GP website provider Silicon Practice enters administration, taking practice sites offline
Silicon Practice, which builds websites for GP surgeries in England and Wales, has entered administration, and some practice sites have gone offline. NHS England says most practice websites are unaffected and patients can phone or visit their practice.
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The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2Silicon Practice, a company that builds GP practice websites and digital tools, has entered administration, and websites for some GP surgeries in England and Wales have stopped working. Daily MailR “GP surgeries across England and Wales have reported problems after Silicon Practice, which creates GP websites and digital tools, entered administration.” Read at Daily Mail ↗ MetroLC “Hundreds of GP practice websites have suddenly gone offline after the software provider is said to have entered administration.” Read at Metro ↗ Mixed · 2Schappit, the owner of Silicon Practice, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators earlier this month; Metro, citing ITV, calls it a notice for administration filed by parent company Schappit Ltd. Daily MailR “Schappit, the owner of Silicon Practice, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators earlier this month.” Read at Daily Mail ↗ MetroLC “A notice for administration was filed by its parent company Schappit Ltd earlier this month, ITV reports.” Read at Metro ↗ Mixed · 2The scale is unclear. Silicon Practice's website says it serves 1,000 websites, and the Daily Mail quotes Wimbledon Medical Practice as saying hundreds of practices are affected. NHS England said fewer than 500 practices use Silicon's FootFall dashboard and fewer than 10 per cent of GP practices are affected. Metro says the exact number of affected surgeries has not been announced. MetroLC “which says on its website to ‘proudly serve 1,000 websites’ behind GP practices.”“The exact number of affected GP surgeries has not been announced” Read at Metro ↗ Daily MailR “NHS England said fewer than 500 GP practices use Silicon's FootFall dashboard and that fewer than 10 per cent of GP practices are affected.” Read at Daily Mail ↗
Mixed · 2Problems have been reported in areas including London, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire and Swansea. Metro found bad gateway errors on the sites of Grange Street Surgery in St Albans and of Cleevelands Medical Centre and Royal Well GP Surgery in Cheltenham. MetroLC “also displayed a bad gateway error this morning when Metro tried to access them.” Read at Metro ↗ Daily MailR “GP surgeries in Gloucestershire, London and Wales have reported problems” Read at Daily Mail ↗ Mixed · 2Surgeries have told patients about the outage. Southgate Surgery in north London said its provider "went into administration without warning", and Wimbledon Medical Practice, which has more than 10,000 patients, said it expects to be without a website for at least a couple of weeks while it appoints a replacement. MetroLC “Our website (for routine issues only) is currently unavailable because our provider went into administration without warning.” Read at Metro ↗ Daily MailR “'However, we expect to be without a website for at least a couple of weeks.'” Read at Daily Mail ↗ Right · 1Swansea Bay University Health Board warned that practices' websites "will cease to operate" but that the practices had not been told when, and any notice is expected to be very short. Daily MailR “'However, the practices have not been advised when this will occur, and if notice is provided, it is expected to be very short.'” Read at Daily Mail ↗
Mixed · 2NHS England said the majority of GP practice websites are running as normal, but some practices using Silicon Practice will be affected, and that patients with an unavailable site should contact their practice by phone or in person. Daily MailR “'While the majority of GP practice websites are running as normal, some practices which use Silicon Practice will be affected by the company going into administration.” Read at Daily Mail ↗ MetroLC “you should contact your practice by phone or in person as usual.” Read at Metro ↗ Mixed · 2Practices say some services remain available through other routes: repeat prescriptions and fit notes via the NHS App (Wimbledon), and appointment booking via the NHS App and SystmOnline, with NHS 111 for urgent issues (Cleevelands). Doncaster GP Dr Dean Eggitt said patients can email, phone or walk in, but warned of more pressure on phone lines and reception teams. The Daily Mail, citing Pulse, says GPs have raised the same concern. Daily MailR “Patients can still order repeat prescriptions and request fit notes via the NHS App while a replacement website is arranged”“However, he admits that practices are likely to see increased pressure on phone lines and reception teams.” Read at Daily Mail ↗ MetroLC “It advised patients to still access services via the NHS app for appointment booking and SystmOnline, and in urgent medical issues to contact NHS 111.” Read at Metro ↗ Mixed · 2It is not yet clear whether services beyond practice websites are affected. Both the Daily Mail and Metro said they had approached Silicon Practice for comment. Daily MailR “It is not currently clear whether any services beyond practice websites have been affected.” Read at Daily Mail ↗ MetroLC “Metro has approached Silicon Practice for a comment.” Read at Metro ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left1 outlet
- Framing
- Metro reports a service outage, led by sites going offline. It relies on surgery notices, ITV's reporting and its own checks of affected sites.
- Emphasis
- Surgeries' messages to patients, bad gateway errors on specific sites, and that the provider collapsed 'without a warning'.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not give NHS England's figure of fewer than 10 per cent of practices affected, or GP concerns about pressure on phone lines.
- Charged language
- “without a warning”
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right2 outlets
- Framing
- The Daily Mail frames it as a crisis for patients' access to GP care, using the word 'meltdown' in its headline, and then adds NHS England's reassurance about scale.
- Emphasis
- Risk to thousands of patients, pressure on phone lines and reception staff, GP advice on workarounds, and NHS England's figures.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not mention that Silicon Practice advertises 1,000 websites, or that ITV reported text alerts to patients.
- Charged language
- “GP appointments meltdown”
- For example
-
“Thousands of patients across England and Wales could face disruption accessing GP services online after a major supplier of practice websites entered administration.” — Daily Mail
“NHS England said fewer than 500 GP practices use Silicon's FootFall dashboard and that fewer than 10 per cent of GP practices are affected.” — Daily Mail
What every side reports
- Silicon Practice, which provides GP practice websites, has entered administration.
- Some GP websites in England and Wales are down.
- NHS England says most practice websites run as normal and affected patients should phone or visit their practice.
- Parent company Schappit filed a notice earlier this month.
- Both outlets approached Silicon Practice for comment.
Where accounts differ
-
How many practices are affected
- Left
- Metro says hundreds of sites have gone offline, notes Silicon Practice advertises 1,000 websites, and says the exact number is not announced.
- Right
- The Daily Mail says thousands of patients may be affected and quotes a surgery saying hundreds of practices are hit. It also gives NHS England's figure of fewer than 500 practices using FootFall and fewer than 10 per cent of practices affected.
NHS England organisation
Says most GP practice websites are running normally, that some practices using Silicon Practice will be affected, and that patients should contact their practice by phone or in person. It put the number using Silicon's FootFall dashboard at fewer than 500 (Daily Mail).
“'If your GP practice website is unavailable and you need help, you should contact your practice by phone or in person as usual.'” — Daily Mail
“NHS England confirmed that sites relying on Silicon Practice would be affected.” — Metro
Silicon Practice organisation
No statement is reported. Its own website says it serves 1,000 GP websites (Metro), and its owner Schappit filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators earlier this month. Both outlets sought comment.
“The Daily Mail has contacted Silicon Practice for comment.” — Daily Mail
“Metro has approached Silicon Practice for a comment.” — Metro
Left1 article
-
MetroLC ·
Hundreds of NHS GP websites across England and Wales go offline
Neutral Reports the outage through surgery notices and its own site checks, with heavy hedging ('is said to') and the NHS England statement.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right2 articles
-
Alarmist Headlines a 'meltdown' and potential disruption for thousands of patients, then supplies practical advice and NHS England's smaller-scale figures.
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- 28 Oct 15:23 First Daily MailR GP appointments meltdown: Thousands may be unable to access medical care online as booking system firm goes into administration
- 29 Oct 07:58 +16h 35m MetroLC Hundreds of NHS GP websites across England and Wales go offline
- 29 Oct 08:55 +17h 32m Daily ExpressR Patients unable to book appointments online as hundreds of GP websites go down
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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