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NHS website down over hacker threat

February 10, 2010

An NHS website used by doctors to complete appraisals has been taken offline over hacking fears.

The move to bring down the NHS Appraisal Toolkit site led the British Medical Association's (BMA's) General Practitioners Committee to warn that GPs face a 'real disruption' to their work.

Officials have withdrawn the site for three weeks after security checks exposed flaws that left it vulnerable to modern-day hacking, the Department of Health said. However, the Government added there was 'no evidence of any breach of security'. But it said the system must be updated to prevent any breaches taking place.

The move comes during doctors' busiest time of the year for organising appraisals - leading to fears that thousands of GPs will face disruption. The decision was made in agreement with the BMA and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

A Department of Health spokesman said the website has been taken offline until the vulnerability issues can be remedied by supplier SCHIN. He added: "The Department is aware that some of the 27,000 active users of the service will have annual appraisals planned during the period that the system will be suspended and that this will be a matter of concern to them."

Copyright © Press Association 2010

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