London Hospitals Working On Paper After Russia Hack

Senior hospital sources describe the situation as a disaster’

- REBECCA THOMAS

A cyberattack on NHS hospitals could take months to resolve, with HIV tests and cervical cancer screening dropped and staff working on paper, The Independent has been told by insiders. On Monday, major London hospitals were targeted by a ransomware attack by Russian hackers, which took out IT systems responsible for reporting patient tests.

Commercial supplier Synnovis provides systems used by labs, King’s College and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS trusts, and GP services across six London boroughs – Bromley, Southwark, Lambeth, Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

The NHS has not given full details of contingency plans being activated, but senior hospital sources describe the situation as a “disaster”, with staff having to record patient test results on paper and call through emergency results manually.