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“Business as usual” say north NHS boards hit by cyber attack

A message on a computer screen informing NHS customers that they are having problems with their IT services
A message on a computer screen informing NHS customers that they are having problems with their IT services

Health boards in the north have insisted it will be “business as usual” today after a major cyber attack which hit the NHS over the weekend.

Western Isles and Highland were both affected, though officials stressed they were “minor” incidents.

In the Western Isles, the radiology department was affected by Friday’s attack – meaning images can not be transferred to the mainland.

And a spokesman for NHS Highland said there had been one isolated incident in Mull, which had not impacted patients.

NHS Grampian was also caught up in Friday’s unprecedented attack and an international effort is now under way to track down the criminals behind it.

Investigators are working to hunt down those responsible for the Wanna Decryptor ransomware, also known as WannaCry, which encrypts files on a user’s computer, blocking them from view and threatening to delete them unless a payment is made.

Medical staff reported seeing computers go down “one by one” as the attack took hold, locking machines and demanding money to release the data.

An NHS Highland spokesman said: “We had one isolated incident in a community nursing site on Mull. There was no impact on patient care and it is business as usual.”

A spokeswoman for the Western Isles said: “Our radiology department was affected which means we can’t transfer images to mainland hospitals. But no other areas in our hospitals were affected.

“We do have systems in place to cover all emergencies.”

The attack also hit two GP practices in the Grampian area, although a spokeswoman again described it as minor.

A spokeswoman said technology experts in the north-east were closely monitoring the board’s computer systems after the surgeries were caught up in the global cyber attack.

Altogether 13 health boards across Scotland were affected by the attacks, which forced ambulances to divert and medics to cancel operations.

An NHS Grampian said: “Two GP practices were affected in a very minor way.

“There was an impact on appointments and the general operation of the surgeries but they were still open.

“There was no breach of patient data.”

In England, 48 trusts reported problems in hospitals as well as in GP surgeries and pharmacies.

As well as the NHS, there were around 200,000 known victims of the cyber attack including Fedex and Spain’s main telecoms operator.