Urgent NHS blood appeal after hospital cyberattack

Health leaders have launched an urgent blood drive across the country to help major hospitals at the centre of a cyberattack.

- REBECCA THOMAS

Russian cybercriminals are behind the ransomware attack which has seriously affected several London hospitals including King’s, the Royal Brompton, Guys’, St Thomas’ and Evelina Children’s Hospital.

It comes as The Independent revealed on Saturday that NHS leaders had raised internal concerns over the national shortage in type-O blood stocks, as the ability for hospitals to quickly cross-check patients’ blood type for transfusion has been limited. People with type-O blood are “universal” donors and can be matched with any blood type.

The Independent also revealed:

More than 200 emergency and life-saving operations, including those which should be done within 24 hours, had to be cancelled by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust (GSTT) and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

• More than a third of procedures and operations have been cancelled, which includes over 3,000 non-surgical appointments and hundreds of patients who have been referred for urgent cancer diagnosis