Ransomware attack disrupts NHS hospitals in London

Healthcare services across multiple major NHS hospitals in London have been severely impacted by a ransomware attack targeting pathology and diagnostic services provider Synnovis. While Synnovis has not issued a public statement regarding the attack, memos from partner hospitals affected by the incident reveal significant disruptions to healthcare services in southeast London.

Professor Ian Abbs, CEO of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, confirmed the incident: "Our pathology partner Synnovis experienced a major IT incident...We are not currently connected to the Synnovis IT servers." The impact has been particularly felt in blood transfusions, with canceled activities redirected to other providers to prioritize safe clinical work.

Impacted hospitals include King’s College Hospital, Guy’s Hospital, St Thomas’ Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospital, and Evelina London Children’s Hospital. While emergency care remains available, procedures and surgeries have been canceled or redirected due to safety concerns.

Quick-turnaround blood test results, crucial for urgent and emergency care, are no longer available due to the attack. Synnovis’ customer service portal alert confirms system inaccessibility, indicating issues at its data center.

Synnovis, formerly Viapath, was established in 2009 as GSTS Pathology and rebranded in October 2022. A partnership between SYNLAB UK & Ireland and two NHS trusts, Synnovis faces operational challenges amid the attack.

This incident follows similar ransomware attacks on healthcare providers globally, including Synlab Italia in April and Dumfries & Galloway NHS health board in March. While the latter successfully prevented data encryption, patient and staff information was leaked on the dark web after ransom demands were ignored. Despite the attack, Dumfries & Galloway NHS services continued without cancellations or rescheduling.