Pages
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Interruption page
If you need to pause a user's journey with important information, use an interruption page.
When to use an interruption page
The interruption page is visually different from other components and patterns in order to draw a user's attention to something important.
Only use an interruption page when you need to make sure that the user is not about to make a mistake.
Use interruption pages sparingly. The more often a user sees them, the more likely they are to skip over the content.
Try using a regular page first, and only use the interruption page if you find in research that users are often missing the content. Please feed back any user research you do on this pattern.
For example use it to:
- ask users to check a likely mistake
- ask users to confirm something which cannot be undone
- warn professionals they are about to do something risky
Check a likely mistake
If the user has entered some information which is likely to be a mistake, but is not impossible, you can use an interruption card to ask them to check if what they have entered is correct.
Unlike a validation error in an error summary, they can continue without changing their answer.
Confirm something which cannot be undone
If the user is about to do something unusual which cannot be undone and could have serious consequences, such as cancelling a hospital appointment, you can use an interruption page to check with them first.
Do not use this pattern if the outcome is less serious, such as unsubscribing from notifications.
Do not use this pattern to ask a user to check all their answers as part of a regular journey. Use the check answers pattern instead.
Warn professionals they are about to do something risky
In a staff-facing service you can use an interruption page to make professionals, for example clinicians, aware that they're doing something unusual and potentially risky, but that they can choose to go ahead based upon their professional judgement.
If the action should never be taken, you should prevent it from happening.
Use this warning sparingly.
When not to use an interruption page
Do not use an interruption card to:
- highlight important text on a page of content – consider using inset text instead
- warn users on a page of long-form content – use a warning callout instead
- ask users to agree to terms of use or other legal terms
- display content that the user will see repeatedly
- show users they have completed a task – use a confirmation page instead
How to use an interruption page
The interruption page uses the panel component with the addition of a nhsuk-panel--interruption class to make it blue. The button should have a nhsuk-button--reverse class to make it appear white.
Keep the content on the interruption page as brief as possible.
Back links and cancel buttons
Include a back link at the top of the page to allow users to go back 1 step. Also allow users to use their browser back button.
If it's helpful to cancel the journey and jump back multiple steps or to a different part of the service, use an additional link grouped with the primary button. Label the link so that users know what will happen and where it will take them. To do this, add a <div class="nhsuk-button-group"> container to group the button and the link together.
Do not include a cancel link if it takes you back to the same page as the back link.
Help us improve this guidance
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If you have any questions, get in touch with the service manual team.
Updated: May 2026