Bedfordshire GP websites hit by healthcare firm's collapse
GP practices across Bedfordshire are experiencing disruption to their websites after a company that provides their online services entered administration.
The Central East NHS region integrated care board (ICB) confirmed 49 practices in its area have online services provided by Schappit Ltd, trading as Silicon Practice Digital Health Solutions – but has not said how many are experiencing outages.
The ICB said it is “working urgently” to support affected practices.
One Bedfordshire surgery, Marston Forest Healthcare, has confirmed that its website and online patient dashboard are unavailable.
The practice said on social media that its surgeries remained open, with patients able to contact staff by telephone, in person or through alternative online arrangements, including Anima.
The disruption follows financial difficulties at Schappit Ltd, which traded as Silicon Practice, Piota and ImproveWell.
Silicon Practice supplied FootFall, a system used by GP surgeries for online patient access and consultations, alongside practice websites and other digital services.
Callers to Silicon Practice are told via a recorded message: "You have reached Silicon practice. We regret that we are unable to respond to or answer queries for the immediate future."
Administrators Rendle & Co have now confirmed that the company ceased trading on Tuesday, and Richard Paul Rendle was appointed administrator on October 16.
In a press release, the administrators said Mr Rendle had contacted NHS England shortly before his appointment to explain the company's circumstances and warn that the business would cease trading without support.
The statement said: "In the absence of continued funding the company ceased to trade at 5.30 pm on Tuesday 27 October 2026."
NHS England has been approached for a comment.
Patients whose GP surgery websites are unavailable should use the alternative contact arrangements provided by their practices.
Anyone who has submitted an online request and has not received a response should contact their practice to check whether it was received.
For urgent medical help when a GP is unavailable, patients can contact NHS 111. In a life-threatening emergency, call 999.