UK hospitals have been forced to cancel outpatient appointments following a cyber incident.
The Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust serves approximately 400,000 people in the North West region and oversees Arrowe Park Hospital, Clatterbridge Hospital as well as Wirral Women and Children's Hospital.
The latest update from the trust confirms that the incident is still ongoing. The statement goes on to clarify that they are working to ‘rectify the issue and our business continuity processes are in place as well as prioritizing that the ‘priority remains ensuring patient safety.’
Appointments cancelled
As some outpatient appointments have had to be cancelled the trust have confirmed that they have contacted those affected. The appointments will be rescheduled as soon as possible.
A&E is running as normal, as are maternity appointments including community midwife appointments as well as scans and post-natal visits.
Earlier this year NHS hospitals were massively impacted by a cyber attack on pathology services provider Synnovis, whilst in 2022 systems were completely taken offline following a large scale ransomware attack.
The Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust has not yet confirmed the source or extent of the cyber incident.
The NHS is responsible for a monumental amount of information that makes it a key target for malicious actors. The sensitivity of health data makes it of high value to cybercriminals. Confidential information can be sold by hackers quickly - and for a high price, or else hackers will extorted the NHS for its safe return. Stolen information can also be ideal for stealing money through tactics like fraudulent billing.
Earlier this year Change Healthcare faced a devastating cyber attack in which 100 million patients’ data was stolen, making it the biggest healthcare data breach in recent history. The attack caused over $872 million in losses for the healthcare giant.
Healthcare providers must invest in robust cyber security practices and keep up with the latest trends to help protect patient data.
