A cyber-attack thought to have been carried out by a Russian group has forced London NHS hospitals to resurrect long-discarded paper records systems in which porters hand-deliver blood test results because IT networks are disrupted. Guy’s and St Thomas’ trust (GSTT) has gone back to using paper, rather than computers, to receive the outcome of patients’ blood tests. Synnovis, which analyses blood tests for GSTT, is still undertaking the work, despite being hit on Monday by a large-scale ransomware attack that has caused serious problems for the NHS.
A GSTT clinical staff member said: “Since the attack, Synnovis have had to print out the blood test results when they get them from their laboratories, which are on site at Guy’s and St Thomas. “Porters collect them and take them up to the ward where that patient is staying or [to the] relevant department which is in charge of their care. The doctors and nurses involved in their care then analyse them and decide on that person’s treatment, depending on what the blood test shows.
“This is happening because Synnovis’s IT can’t communicate with ours due to the cyber-attack. Usually blood test results are sent electronically, but that’s not an option just now.” The disclosure came as more details emerged about the impact of the latest hacking incident to hit the NHS, which Ciaran Martin, the former chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, said had been perpetrated by Russian cybercriminals.
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