NHS HACK: NOW FOR MONDAY MAYHEM
Hospitals race to reschedule ops as staff are warned they STILL shouldn’t turn on their computers
HOSPITALS are braced for mayhem today as the NHS tries to get back on its feet following Friday’s crippling cyber attack.
Patients could have to wait a month or more to see a doctor as the health service races to rearrange countless operations cancelled at the weekend.
The worst-hit NHS trusts will continue to postpone non-emergency operations today as IT experts work round-the-clock to get their systems back online.
Seven hospitals were last night still diverting ambulances from A&E departments. And trusts in Lincolnshire, Southport, Lancashire, Colchester and parts of London said they will have to cancel ‘routine’ procedures for at least another day.
GPs in some parts of the UK have even been told not to switch on their PCs this morning until they get the all-clear. As the Government faced further questions about its cyber-security systems last night:
Europol chief Rob Wainwright warned of a second wave of attacks after hackers released a new version of the ransomware, overcoming a temporary fix which slowed down its spread;
Experts warned the attack could spread far beyond the NHS as people return to work this morning and click on infected emails;
The number of people affected by the global hack rose to 200,000 victims in 150 countries;
A major manhunt was under way as global crime-fighting organisations sought the culprits, thought to be Eastern European gangs;
It emerged that hospitals were sent a ‘ patch’ which could have protected them just two weeks ago – but few downloaded it;
Although no personal data has been lost in this attack, a report showed that personal information held by Government departments is breached at least once an hour.
Mr Wainright last night told the BBC the act was ‘unprecedented in its scale’ and warned more people could find themselves affected this morning. ‘ The numbers are still going up,’ he said. ‘The slowdown of the infection rate on Friday night, after a temporary fix, has now been overcome by a second variation...’
Last night, the National Cyber Security Centre warned that Friday’s ransomware attack could ‘recur’. It said that ‘compromises of machines and networks that have already occurred may not yet have been detected, and that existing infections from the malware can spread within networks. This means that as a new working week begins it is likely.. that further cases of ransomware may come to light.. It is [also] possible that a ransomware attack of this type and on this scale could recur...’
The NHS is now thought to be protected against further attack by this particular virus, because IT staff have been working over the weekend to boost defences. Crucially, sources told the Mail it never infected the ‘NHS Spine’ – the core of the UK health service IT system which connects every hospital, GP practice, ambulance service and health board.
But the biggest impact will come as hospital bosses try to reschedule the countless appointments and operations cancelled on Friday and over the weekend. The
‘Extremely vulnerable’
Government said 48 NHS trusts – roughly a third of the health service – were hit. Although most had resumed normal service by last night, seven hospitals – in London, Stevenage, Norfolk, West Cumberland, Hampshire and Broomfield and Colchester in Essex – were still asking ambulances to take emergency patients to other sites.
Hospitals now have to try to fit in all cancelled procedures. The NHS is advising patients to attend hospital appointments unless contacted. Officials expect the most urgent cases to be postponed by no more than a day or two, but less urgent cases may not be seen for a month or more.
Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust in Merseyside last night told patients scheduled for surgery today ‘not to attend unless we contact you directly’.
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals said: ‘The majority of planned procedures and operations scheduled for 15 May are postponed – please do not come to hospital ..’
And United Lincolnshire Hospitals said: ‘Outpatient appointments, diagnostic tests and routine operations will all be cancelled. Our teams will be in touch directly with anyone whose appointment is able to go ahead as scheduled.’
Barts, which runs five hospitals in London, told patients to assume their procedure would go ahead – but said some would be cancelled at the last minute. In other parts, including Cumbria and Blackpool, GP surgeries and hospital staff were told not to switch their PCs on this morning.
Dr Krishna Chinthapalli, a registrar at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, said: ‘If anything this one [ attack] will raise awareness among the hacker community that hospitals are a target for them...’
Critics said the Government faces questions over ending in 2015 a £500million-a-year contract with Microsoft for updating and replacing its software. Officials insisted it was part of NHS decentralisation.
But Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said it meant that since May 2015, individual trusts’ operating systems ‘have been extremely vulnerable’.