Four months after a malicious cyber attack on IT systems serving major hospitals in south London, the NHS says that it is in “the final stages of recovery” and “nearly all services are now up and running”.
“There is still work ahead of us… but thankfully we now see light at the end of this tunnel,” according to one senior official.
Pathology services provider Synnovis suffered the hack attack on June 3. The consequences have seen 10,152 acute outpatient appointments and 1,710 elective procedures postponed at King’s College Hospital in Camberwell, Guy’s at London Bridge and St Thomas’ at Waterloo. Patient treatment at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, Bromley Healthcare and primary care services were also affected.
In a statement issued by NHS London overnight, they said, “One of the final pieces in the jigsaw was the reconnection of blood transfusion laboratory IT systems.
“The attack meant the affected trusts were unable to carry out ‘cross-matching’ for blood transfusions so had to use O-type blood which is safe for all. This in turn, contributed to a national shortage of O-type blood supplies.
“The trusts have now moved back to being able to issue all blood group products for transfusions. While some important administrative work remains, any further impact on patient care will be minimal.”
The amber alert for blood supplies remains in place and new and existing O negative and black heritage blood donors are still being urged to come forward and donate.
Existing O negative and RO donors are encouraged to book online or call 0300 123 23 23, while new donors are urged to visit one of 25 NHS donor centres. To book an appointment to give blood, please go online at www.blood.co.uk or call 0300 123 23 23
In a joint statement, Prof Ian Abbs, chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Prof Clive Kay, CEO of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “The recovery of these services is the result of a phenomenal effort from colleagues who have been working relentlessly to get us to this position and we would like to thank everyone involved for their patience, flexibility and commitment during these challenging months.
“Alongside the very complex technical work that has taken place, colleagues have also been working hard to ensure that we were able to continue treating as many patients as possible. Despite this incredible team effort, we know that many patients have unfortunately had their care delayed during this period and we would like to apologise again for the inconvenience this has caused.”
Testing services were recently returned to GPs across south London.
Synnovis CEO Mark Dollar said: “There is still work ahead of us to restore remaining business administrative IT systems within Synnovis, but thankfully we now see light at the end of this tunnel.”
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