NHS N3 network suffers internet outage

Many users could not access external-facing websites on N3 network

The NHS's N3 network, which draws all of the NHS's different services together in one system, suffered a failure today which resulted in many users unable to access external websites.

According to the NHS, N3 is a Wide Area IP Network (WAN), connecting many different sites across the NHS within England and Scotland. The network has a very wide variety of end user NHS organisations from GP practices to large hospitals with dedicated IT staff, and a select number of suppliers are also connected to the network.

N3 also connects to other networks via gateways, notably to the internet via its 'internet gateway'.

The network connects up to 1.3 million NHS end users and manages 40,000 connections in England and Scotland, which are all connected to regional points of presence.

The problem with the N3 occurred earlier today and affected users nationwide.

A spokesperson for the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) said: "Earlier today there was an issue with the N3 internet gateway, causing some users to experience problems when accessing external websites."

The spokesperson said that the remainder of the N3 network and the clinical systems running over it were unaffected by this incident and service has now resumed.

"The issue was a dealt with as a matter of urgency. All health organisations who subscribe to email and SMS incident updates were communicated to regarding the incident."