London healthcare facilities delayed over 800 surgeries following Synnovis malware attack
June 15, 2024
The NHS England verified that multiple London healthcare facilities affected by the malware attack at Synnovis were obliged to reschedule planned procedures.
The NHS England confirmed that the recent malware attack on Synnovis had a serious impact on several London hospitals, leading to the postponement of hundreds of scheduled medical procedures.
Synnovis operates as a collaborative venture between Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospitals NHS Trust, along with SYNLAB, which is the largest medical testing and diagnostics provider in Europe.
In an announcement made on its official website, Synnovis disclosed that it had fallen victim to a malware attack.
The company providing pathology and diagnostic services has initiated an inquiry into the security breach with the aid of NHS experts. These professionals are actively engaged in a comprehensive evaluation of the attack’s repercussions and are taking appropriate measures to manage the situation. The organization also stated its close collaboration with NHS Trust partners in order to mitigate the impact on patients and other beneficiaries of its services.
Law enforcement agencies suspect that the extortion group known as Qilin is responsible for the cyber attack. NHS London issued a statement regarding the ransomware incident involving Synnovis, confirming the considerable disruption it has caused in the delivery of services at Guy’s, St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts, and primary care services in southeast London.
“On Monday 3 June, Synnovis, a provider of lab services, was targeted in a malware cyber attack. This has significant repercussions on service delivery at Guy’s, St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts, and primary care services in southeast London, and we express regret for the inconvenience caused to patients and their families.” mentions a statement released by NHS London.
“All urgent and emergency services remain operational as usual and a majority of outpatient services are running normally.” according to NHS. “Regrettably, some surgeries and treatments that heavily depend on pathology services have been deferred, with blood tests being prioritized for urgent cases, resulting in some patients having their phlebotomy appointments canceled.”
On Friday, June 14, NHS London confirmed that King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust had postponed over 800 planned surgeries and 700 outpatient consultations. As per the statement from NHS London, the majority of scheduled activities proceeded as planned, albeit the incident specifically impacted certain specialties more than others.
“Data for the week following the attack (3-9 June) reveals that, within the two most impacted Trusts – King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – over 800 planned surgeries and 700 outpatient appointments needed rescheduling. While most planned operations have been unaffected, certain specialties were more adversely affected.” states a report from NHS England. “Trusts are striving to promptly reschedule any postponed procedures, including arranging supplementary weekend clinics.”
Synnovis is actively engaged in restoring the impacted systems, intending to regain partial functionality in the forthcoming weeks. However, complete restoration will be a lengthier process, and the necessity to reschedule examinations and appointments will lead to sustained disruptions over the next few months.
Earlier in the week, the UK National Health Service (NHS) made an urgent plea for blood donations of O-type following the recent malware attack on Synnovis resulting in disrupted operations at numerous medical institutions in London.
The NHS acknowledged that the malware attack had disrupted blood matching tests, prompting the affected hospitals to utilize O Negative and O Positive blood for patients requiring immediate attention due to the unavailability of alternative matching systems. Consequently, the NHS is appealing for O-type blood donations.
“The top doctor in England has endorsed the request from NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) for O Positive and O Negative blood donors to immediately schedule appointments to donate blood at one of the 25 town and city center NHS Blood Donor Centers in England to bolster the supplies of O type blood after the cyber incident in London.” according to the announcement published by NHS Blood and Transplant.
“The IT incident affecting a pathology provider means affected hospitals are currently unable to conduct blood typing tests as frequently as usual. For surgeries and procedures necessitating blood transfusions, hospitals need to resort to O type blood as it is universally safe for all patients and has a shelf life of 35 days, necessitating continual replenishment of stocks. This implies that an increased quantity of these blood types will be needed over the next few weeks to support frontline staff in ensuring safe service delivery for local patients.”
O Negative blood is a universal blood type that can be administered to anyone, making it critical in emergencies or when the patient’s blood type is unidentified. Despite only 8% of the population possessing O Negative blood, it accounts for approximately 15% of the blood orders at hospitals. O Positive, the most prevalent blood type, is suitable for all patients with a positive blood type, benefiting 76% of the populace. 35% of blood donors are O Positive.
“To assist London hospitals in conducting more surgeries and providing optimal care for all patients, we require more O Negative and O Positive blood donors than usual. Please schedule an urgent appointment to donate blood at one of our 25 town and city donor centers where good appointment slots are currently available.” stated Dr. Gail Miflin, Chief Medical Officer, NHS Blood and Transplant. “We can accommodate donors aware of their blood type, and we welcome new donors yet to discover their blood type. You may have one of these specialized blood types that can be crucial in emergencies.”
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