The Lister Hospital in Stevenage has been forced to shut down its computer systems after it was hit by what it believes was a cyber attack earlier today.
The East and North Herts NHS Trust which runs the hospital has been forced to shut down all the hospital’s IT systems as a precaution to stop the attack spreading and all non-urgent surgery and treatments have been cancelled for today.
The Coreys Mill Lane hospital is encouraging patients not to go to A&E, but in an emergency to call 999 and for non urgent care to call NHS 111.
It is thought there will be a criminal investigation following the attack.
The NHS trust issued a statement saying: “Immediately on discovery of the problem, the NHS trust acted to protect its IT systems by shutting them down; it also meant that the NHS trust’s telephone system is not able to accept incoming calls.
“We are postponing all non-urgent activity for today and asking people not to come to A&E
“To ensure that all back-up processes and procedures were put in place quickly, we declared a major internal incident to make sure that patients already in the NHS trust’s hospitals continued to receive the care they need.
“In the meantime, the NHS trust’s IT specialists are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.”
Check back here for updates as we have them.
Police are investigating the attack and Herts Police issued a statement saying: “Police have been made aware of an incident involving hospitals in Hertfordshire today. We are monitoring the situation and will work with the hospital trust to assist where required.”
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