Ransomware attack on NHS

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NHS Lanarkshire has confirmed it was the victim of a another ransomware attack on its IT systems over the weekend.

The virus, which was first detected on Friday night, encrypted data on the health board's computers and asked for payment. This is similar to the notorious Wannacry which devastated global systems earlier this year.

NHS Lanarkshire was also one of the worst hit in that incident in May.

Hospitals and GP practices were affected this weekend, and some operations and appointments were cancelled.

Chief executive Calum Campbell said: “We have identified the source of the malware and investigations are ongoing as to how this was able to infiltrate our network.

“Our staff have worked hard to minimise the impact on patients and our contingency plans have ensured we have been able to continue to deliver services while the IT issues were resolved. A small number of systems have been affected and these are in the process of being fixed.

“Unfortunately a small number of procedures and appointments have been cancelled as a result of the incident. I would like to apologise to anyone who has been affected by this disruption, however I can assure you that work is already underway to reappoint patients.

“The majority of services have been restored but it may take some time to get services running as normal. We would ask patients who are attending hospital or out-of-hours services over the weekend to bear with us as they may experience longer than waits than usual.”