Huge cyber attack caused minimal patient harm, ICB claims
A cyber attack which crippled a region’s pathology system for three months caused only five cases of “moderate” harm and no significant harm, the NHS has claimed.
The Synnovis cyber attack in June left GPs across six boroughs in London unable to order blood tests, and more than 1,000 inpatient procedures were cancelled at two large hospital trusts.
But South East London Integrated Care Board said this week 498 incidents linked to the attack had been assessed, and all of them were judged to have done either “no harm” or “low harm” — except for five at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals, which were assessed as “moderate” harm.
The NHS’s incident response process judges “moderate” harm as where a patient “did not need immediate life-saving intervention” but needed or is likely to need other follow-up care. It is also triggered by them limiting a patient’s independence for less than six months or “affect[ing] the success of treatment, but without meeting the criteria for reduced life expectancy or accelerated disability.”
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Source: HSJ, 30 October 2024