Huge cyberattack causes canceled procedures in major London hospitals

The NHS in the UK is currently subject to a large-scale cyberattack. King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’, including the Royal Brompton and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, as well as primary care services across London, are among those affected by a “major IT incident”.

It has been described by senior sources as a ransomware attack and is targeting an NHS partner, Synnovis, which is involved in pathology and testing.

According to Sky News, trusts have reported that the cyberattack was having a “major impact” on their ability to deliver services. Blood transfusions and test results have been particularly affected.

The incident has meant some departments and trusts have been unable to connect to the main server. It is thought that the incident began on Monday.

One source stated that gaining access to results from pathology could now take “weeks, not days,” and that emergency care would be impacted due to the reliance on quick testing and reporting on results.

As a result of the cyberattack, some procedures have been canceled and others have been redirected to other NHS services. Affected hospitals are still determining what can be done safely under the restrictions caused by the attack.

One patient, a 70-year-old man, spoke to PA News, stating that he was prepared for a scheduled operation at 6 am Monday, June 3, but was then told at around 12.30 pm that it would not be able to go forward.

“The staff on the ward didn’t seem to know what had happened, just that many patients were being told to go home and wait for a new date.

“I’ve been given a date for next Tuesday and am crossing my fingers – it’s not the first time that they have canceled, they did it on May 28 too, but that was probably staff shortages in half-term week.”

This is not the first time the NHS has been targeted by a ransomware attack. A major incident last year saw a hacker group steal over 70 terabytes of data.

Featured image credit: NHS