A cyberattack has affected major hospitals in London, leading to some operations being cancelled and emergency patients being diverted.
The “major IT incident” is related to hospitals partnered with Synnovis, a provider of pathology services, according to letters sent to NHS staff.
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The incident was having a “major impact” on hospital procedures including blood transfusions and blood test results.
The cyberattack has left some London hospital departments unable to connect to their main server.
The Health Service Journal cited senior sources stating the system has been the victim of a ransomware attack.
Synnovis was launched following a partnership between SYNLAB UK & Ireland, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
Gareth Pritchard, CTO at UK cybersecurity company Sapphire, said the incident shows the knock-on impact of attacks in the supply chain.
“This incident shows the criticality cybersecurity has on our way of lives,” Pritchard said. “Cyberattacks on our critical infrastructure and services has real world impact.
“It is vital for organisations to look at their whole supply chain in order to ensure operational availability and resilience,” he added.
The global cybersecurity market will be worth $290bn by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 13% between 2022 and 2027, according to GlobalData’s Cybersecurity – Thematic Intelligence report.
