Patients who do not have urgent issues have been turned away from a Brent GP surgery after a worldwide IT outage.

Church End Medical Centre in Mayo Road said that its computer systems were down this morning (July 19).

It comes after a worldwide IT outage affected GPs across the country.

Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike has blamed a “content update” for its Microsoft Windows hosts for the problem.

Dr Nam Hunger-Nguyen from Church End Medical Centre said that the surgery was still offering a “limited service” for the most urgent and acute issues.

But he said patients have been told that the vast majority of problems will have to be dealt with next week, when doctors can make “more informed decisions” after regaining access to medical records.

He added: “Our staff are working extra hard to do what we can, and should be commended for stepping up.

“Questions will be asked about the vulnerability of the NHS systems that are the lifeblood of healthcare, but for today the vast majority of patients are incredibly understanding of the situation and trust that we are doing everything we can.”

NHS England confirmed earlier this morning that the majority of GP practices had been impacted.

A spokesperson said that the worldwide IT outage had caused issues with EMIS, an appointment and patient record system.

They added: “The NHS has long standing measures in place to manage the disruption, including using paper patient records and handwritten prescriptions, and the usual phone systems to contact your GP.

“There is currently no known impact on 999 or emergency services, so people should use these services as they usually would.

“Patients should attend appointments unless told otherwise. Only contact your GP if it’s urgent, and otherwise please use 111 online or call 111″.