Today (4th June 2024), A cyber attack has been reported at London Hospitals including Kings College NHS, Guy’s, and St Thomas’,. Cyber attacks affected many important services including operations, dialysis, transfusions, etc. It also affected the Mychart patient portal by EPIC.
As reported by BBC1, It applies to hospitals partnered with Synnovis – a provider of pathology services. BBC further said King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ – including the Royal Brompton and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital – and primary care services are among those affected.
Synnovis has also shared a statement on its official website about this cyber incident2. Synnovis shared in their statement…
“Regrettably this is affecting patients, with some activity already cancelled or redirected to other providers as urgent work is prioritised. We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience and upset this is causing to patients, service users and anyone else affected. We are doing our best to minimise the impact and will stay in touch with local NHS services to keep people up to date with developments.”
Mark Dollar, Synnovis CEO
Synnovis further said…
“We take cybersecurity very seriously at Synnovis and have invested heavily in ensuring our IT arrangements are as safe as they possibly can be. This is a harsh reminder that this sort of attack can happen to anyone at any time and that, dispiritingly, the individuals behind it have no scruples about who their actions might affect.”
Mark Dollar, Synnovis CEO
Synnovis again added…
“The incident is being reported to law enforcement and the Information Commissioner, and we are working with the National Cyber Security Centre and the Cyber Operations Team.”
Mark Dollar, Synnovis CEO
For more information, please read Synnovis’ statement and details about this ransomware cyberattack incident.
Many important patient, administration, and operations-related services have been affected by this cyberattack. The main patient-related service is the Mychart patient portal which patients use to access their health records and communicate with their providers.
A spokesperson for NHS England London region said3:
“On Monday 3 June Synnovis, a provider of lab services, was the victim of a ransomware cyber attack.
“This is having a significant impact on the delivery of services at Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts and primary care services in south east London and we apologise for the inconvenience this is causing to patients and their families.
South East London Integrated Care System has also shared this news on its official website which you can find here.
What is Synnovis?
Synnovis is a partnership between SYNLAB UK & Ireland, Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Synnovis provides services to the NHS, clinical users, and other service users.
King’s College NHS has also shared a tweet about this cyber incident on their social media channel X (formerly Twitter)4. Kings College NHS said…
@Synnovis our pathology provider confirmed they’re victim of a ransomware cyber attack. Some patient care is being cancelled or redirected as urgent care is prioritised. We apologise for the inconvenience. Our Emergency Departments remain open.
@KingsCollegeNHS
Guy’s and St Thomas also reported about the cyber attack that affected their pathology services including the blood test on their official website5. They said…
“We are currently experiencing disruption to our pathology services, particularly blood tests. This is following a cyber attack affecting our pathology service provider Synnovis.”
You may also check the Guy’s and St Thomas’s Twitter handle about this news6. They said on their X handle @GSTTnhs…
We are currently experiencing disruption to our services following a cyber attack on our pathology provider. We apologise for any inconvenience. Please attend your appointment as normal unless you hear from us. Our A&E remains open.
@GSTTnhs
What next…
All patients have been informed about this incident. Patients can use medical services in normal ways by dialing 111. For any medical emergency, patients can access the services by dialing 999. Patients are advised to attend their appointments as usual unless told to avoid them.
How to access Mychart?
Meanwhile, patients can access their Mychart account and check what services are affected due to the cyber incident.
King’s College Hospital Mychart login:
Patients at King’s College Hospital can access their Mychart account through below links.
To login, please follow the below steps.
- Visit the Mychart login page.
- Enter your username and password.
- Press the Sign In button.
Footnotes:
- “Critical incident over London hospitals’ cyber-attack,” BBC, June 4, 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c288n8rkpvno ↩︎
- Mark Dollar, “SYNNOVIS’ STATEMENT ON THIS WEEK’S CYBERATTACK,” Synnovis Group LLP, June 4, 2024, https://www.synnovis.co.uk/news-and-press/synnovis-cyberattack ↩︎
- “NHS London statement on Synnovis ransomware cyber attack,” NHS England — London, June 4, 2024, https://www.england.nhs.uk/london/2024/06/04/nhs-london-statement-on-synnovis-ransomware-cyber-attack/ ↩︎
- King’s College NHS (@KingsCollegeNHS), “@Synnovis
our pathology provider confirmed they’re victim of a ransomware cyber attack,” X, June 4, 2024, https://x.com/KingsCollegeNHS/status/1798040407584190723 ↩︎ - “Disruption to our pathology services,” Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, June 4, 2024, https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/news/disruption-our-pathology-services ↩︎
- Guy’s and St Thomas’ (@GSTTnhs), “We are currently experiencing disruption to our services following a cyber attack on our pathology provider,” X, June 4, 2024, https://x.com/GSTTnhs/status/1798051841923809774 ↩︎
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