Patients turned away after Cyber attack at Southport Hospital

A huge cyber hack has taken down Southport Hospital (Friday 12 May 2017)

Update 4:15pm

Statement from NHS

A number of NHS organisations have reported to NHS Digital that they have been affected by a ransomware attack.

The investigation is at an early stage but we believe the malware variant is Wanna Decryptor.

At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data has been accessed. We will continue to work with affected organisations to confirm this.

NHS Digital is working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, the Department of Health and NHS England to support affected organisations, ensure patient safety is protected and to recommend appropriate mitigations.

This attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS and is affecting organisations from across a range of sectors.

Our focus is on supporting organisations to manage the incident swiftly and decisively, but we will continue to communicate with NHS colleagues and will share more information as it becomes available.

Original

A huge cyber hack has taken down Southport Hospital (Friday 12 May 2017)

Some patients are being turned away from the accident and emergency unit after NHS sites across the North were targeted by criminal hackers trying to get at patient data.

People are being told to avoid Southport Hospital for the time being.

OTS News will have an update from the hospital when more information becomes available.