Routine blood tests cancelled at GP alliance after Russian cyber attack on NHS services in London
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All routine blood tests have been cancelled at the Bromley GP Alliance after a Russian cyber attack on some of London's NHS services.
The alliance said the attack had affected the NHS across South East London and was impacting services at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and primary care providers in south east London.
"All urgent and emergency services remain open as usual and the majority of outpatient services continue to operate as normal," the alliance said.
"Unfortunately, some operations and procedures which rely more heavily on pathology services have been postponed, and blood testing is being prioritised for the most urgent cases, meaning patients have had phlebotomy appointments cancelled," a statement added.
Earlier this week health leaders launched an “urgent” blood drive across the country to help major hospitals at the centre of a cyber attack.
Blood testing services were compromised after the Qilin gang targeted the pathology firm Synnovis.
Hospitals declared a critical incident as they were forced to cancel a number of operations and blood tests.
The affected hospitals cannot currently match patients’ blood at the same frequency as usual, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) said.
And as a result it has launched an “urgent” appeal across England for people with “universal” blood to come forward and donate.
People with type O blood are being urged to come forward as their blood is safe to use for the majority of patients.
More units of these types of blood than usual will be required “over the coming weeks” to keep services running safely for local patients, NHSBT said.
Both O positive and O negative blood donors are being urged to book appointments in one of the 25 NHS Blood Donor Centres in England to boost stocks.
There are about 13,000 blood donation appointments available across England this week in NHS Blood Donor Centres with 3,400 available in London.
Dr Gail Miflin, chief medical officer, NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “To support London hospitals to carry out more surgeries and to provide the best care we can for all patients, we need more O negative and O positive donors than usual.
“We have availability for donors who know they are type O but we also welcome new donors who don’t yet know their blood type.”
Professor Stephen Powis, medical director for NHS England, said: “Unfortunately, we know that a number of operations and appointments have been postponed or diverted to other neighbouring hospitals not impacted by the cyber attack, as we prioritise pathology services for the most clinically urgent cases.
“To help London staff support and treat more patients, they need access to O negative and O positive blood, so if one of these is your blood type, please come forward to one of the 13,000 appointments currently available in NHS Blood Donor Centres.”
NHSBT said that following the bank holidays and school half-term holidays, the NHS currently has lower than normal stocks of type O blood.
It is urging donors to come forward and make an appointment in town and city donor centres across the country including London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Nottingham, Manchester and Newcastle.
Officials will not be asking donors to come forward more regularly – men can donate once in every three months and women can only donate once in every four months.
For more information search GiveBlood online and on social media or visit Blood.co.uk
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