# NHS England is closing all its Public/Open-Source code repositories on May 11th because they're scared of Mythos

**Category:** [open forum](https://openhealthhub.org/c/open-forum/9)
**Created:** 2026-05-01 18:28 UTC
**Views:** 87
**Replies:** 6
**URL:** https://openhealthhub.org/t/nhs-england-is-closing-all-its-public-open-source-code-repositories-on-may-11th-because-theyre-scared-of-mythos/2981

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## Post #1 by @pacharanero

Story broken by New Scientist today, but it's been in the unofficial rumour mill all week for those working inside NHSE.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2524962-nhs-england-rushes-to-hide-software-over-ai-hacking-fears/

Terence Eden has put out a good explanatory blog post
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/nhs-goes-to-war-against-open-source/

There is an open letter if you feel you would like to sign and share it.
https://keepthingsopen.com/

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## Post #2 by @stephen

https://www.theregister.com/software/2026/05/07/nhs-code-clampdown-draws-open-source-backlash/5234541

https://keepthingsopen.com/ - 824 signatures so far. 

Sadly, I've not seen this on social media

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## Post #3 by @olizilla

The deadline has passed and 378 [NHSDigital](https://github.com/NHSDigital) (sic) repos remain open. I think they waited it out to see what the GDS guidance was, which has come back strongly in favour of *keep calm and open source:*  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ai-open-code-and-vulnerability-risk-in-the-public-sector

> Keep open by default. Making everything private adds additional delivery and policy costs, and can reduce reuse and scrutiny. Openness should remain the default posture, with closure used sparingly and deliberately.

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## Post #4 by @pacharanero

They did close a lot of repos though - I know that Mavis (Manage Vaccinations in Schools) which was a project I was working on has been closed down and public access now returns a 404:

https://github.com/NHSDigital/manage-vaccinations-in-schools

You are correct that subsequent GOV.UK guidance completely contradicted whan NHSE are doing/have done.

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## Post #5 by @pacharanero

This GitHub search of the `uk-gov-mirror` organisation shows the repos that were open which are now closed.

https://github.com/orgs/uk-gov-mirror/repositories?q=mirror%3Afalse+fork%3Afalse+archived%3Afalse+nhs&page=1

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## Post #6 by @olizilla

Ah thanks! That's a helpful resource, and evidence, if it was needed, that security through obscurity is not only unwise, but also really hard to implement after the fact.

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## Post #7 by @JW148

So does that mean that effectively everything in practice remains open source?  Is this mirror site being kept in lockstep with the official closed repos or are we in danger of version discrepancies as time goes on?

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**Canonical:** https://openhealthhub.org/t/nhs-england-is-closing-all-its-public-open-source-code-repositories-on-may-11th-because-theyre-scared-of-mythos/2981
**Original content:** https://openhealthhub.org/t/nhs-england-is-closing-all-its-public-open-source-code-repositories-on-may-11th-because-theyre-scared-of-mythos/2981