Critical incident: Cyber ​​attack affects major London hospitals

Major hospitals in London have declared a critical incident after a cyberattack led to the cancellation of operations and the failure of blood transfusions.

Memos sent to NHS staff at King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ (including the Royal Brompton and Evelina London Children’s Hospital) and primary care services in the capital said pathology partner Synnovis had been affected by a “serious IT incident”.

Synnovis is a provider of pathology services and was formed through a partnership between SynLab UK & Ireland, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The memos said the “critical incident” had had a “significant impact” on the delivery of services, particularly affecting blood transfusions.

Some procedures and operations have been cancelled or transferred to other NHS providers as hospital management continues to assess what work can be carried out safely.

NHS officials said they were working with the National Cyber ​​Security Centre to understand the impact of the ransomware cyberattack.

And Synnovis said the incident would be reported to law enforcement authorities and the Data Protection Commissioner.

An NHS England spokesperson for the London region said: “On Monday 3 June, Synnovis, a provider of laboratory services, was the victim of a ransomware cyberattack.

“This is having a significant impact on the delivery of services at Guy’s and St Thomas, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts and primary health services in south east London and we apologise for any inconvenience this is causing to patients and their families.

“Emergency care remains available, so patients should access services in the usual way by dialling 999 in an emergency and using 111 otherwise. Patients should continue to attend appointments unless they are told otherwise.

“We will continue to keep local patients and the public updated on the impact on services and how they can continue to receive the care they need.

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“With the support of the government’s National Cyber ​​Security Centre and our cyber operations team, we are working diligently to fully understand the impact of the incident.”

Synnovis CEO Mark Dollar said the attack had impacted all of the company’s IT systems, causing disruption to “many of our pathology services.”

He added: “It is early days and we are trying to understand exactly what happened. A taskforce of IT experts from Synnovis and the NHS is working to fully assess the impact and take the necessary action.

“Unfortunately, this is having an impact on patients as some activities have already been cancelled or diverted to other providers as urgent work takes priority.

“We deeply regret the inconvenience and upset this is causing to patients, service users and anyone else affected. We are doing our best to minimise the impact and will stay in touch with local NHS services to keep people updated on developments.

“We take cybersecurity very seriously at Synnovis and have invested heavily in ensuring our IT arrangements are as secure as possible. This is a harsh reminder that these types of attacks can happen to anyone at any time and that the people behind them, dishearteningly, have no scruples about who their actions might affect.

“The incident will be reported to law enforcement and the Information Commissioner, and we are working with the National Cyber ​​Security Centre and the Cyber ​​Operations Team.”

One of the patients, Oliver Dowson, 70, was being prepared for surgery at the Royal Brompton from 6am on Monday 3 June when a surgeon told him at around 12.30pm that the operation could not go ahead.

He told the PA news agency: “Ward staff did not seem to know what had happened. Many patients were just told to go home and wait for a new appointment.”

“I got an appointment for next Tuesday and I’m keeping my fingers crossed – it’s not the first time they’ve cancelled, it happened on May 28th, but that was probably due to a lack of staff during the half-time week.”

Vanessa Welham, from Streatham, south-west London, said her husband’s blood test at Gracefield Gardens health centre was cancelled on Monday evening and he was told local centres were no longer taking bookings for an “indefinite period”.

She told PA: ‘My husband received a text message last night to say that his appointment from this morning had been cancelled for reasons beyond their control and that all major hospitals in south London – King’s, St Thomas’, Guys, Evalina and Gracefield Gardens – are unable to accept appointments indefinitely.

“He went to the Swift website and made a new appointment – the earliest available was June 17, but that’s probably questionable.”

A spokesman for King’s College Hospital in London confirmed that it was affected by the attack.

All hospitals were asked for a statement.

According to the Health Service Journal (HSJ), several senior sources have said the system has fallen victim to a ransomware attack.

One said accessing pathology results could take “weeks, not days.”

There is evidence that urgent and emergency care in hospitals will be affected as they may not have access to short-term blood test results.

In 2021, it was announced that SynLab would partner with the NHS to provide pathology services in hospitals and GP surgeries across South East London.

The Pathology Service serves not only King’s and Guys’ and St Thomas’, but also the South London and Maudsley and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trusts, as well as a number of GP practices, clinics and other community services in the boroughs of Bromley, Lambeth and Southwark.

Pathology services help diagnose and treat diseases and infections by analyzing samples, including blood and tissue.