A criminal investigation has been launched into a cyber attack on a hospital computer system that resulted in a number of appointments and operations being cancelled.
Hundreds of people were affected by the attack on Northern Lincolnshire and Goole (NLAG) NHS Foundation Trust and United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.
At least 35 operations had to be cancelled as a result.
The IT systems were restored on Wednesday following Sunday’s attack.
Det Ch Insp Vanessa Smith from the Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Cyber Crime Unit said: “We are aware of the incident and are investigating it as a crime.
“We are working closely with the NHS Foundation Trust as enquiries continue.”
NLAG runs hospitals in Goole, Grimsby and Scunthorpe, and its computer system is linked to that at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT).
The trust’s deputy chief executive Dr Karen Dunderdale said all of its key clinical systems are operational, though “a small number of linkages which enable our systems to talk to each which remain inconsistent”.
“I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to everyone who has had their appointment cancelled this week,” she said.
“We will of course be rescheduling them as soon as possible, with those patients identified as clinically urgent seen first.”
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/
