Bad week for the NHS as two of its hospitals suffer separate cyberattacks
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is grappling with two significant cybersecurity incidents this week, causing disruption across hospitals in North West England. The attacks, which appear to be unrelated, have raised serious concerns about the resilience of NHS systems against ransomware and data breaches.
Wirral University Teaching Hospital Declares “Major Incident”
On Monday evening, the Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust announced a major cybersecurity incident that has paralyzed operations across its facilities, including Wirral Women and Children’s Hospital, Clatterbridge Hospital, and Arrowe Park Hospital.
The Trust had to suspend all outpatient appointments and advised the public to avoid its accident and emergency (A&E) departments unless dealing with life-threatening conditions, such as strokes, serious blood loss, or chest pains. By Thursday, staff had reverted to manual, pen-and-paper operations, indicative of a suspected ransomware attack, though this has not been officially confirmed.
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital follows
Adding to the chaos, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust revealed they had also suffered a security incident. This was after a group known as INC Ransom claimed to have stolen sensitive data from the hospitals and published samples online. The leaked data reportedly includes patient names, medical records, donor information, and financial documents, with some records dating back to 2018.
In a statement, Alder Hey said: “We are aware that data has been published online and shared via social media that purports to have been obtained illegally from systems shared by Alder Hey and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. We are working with partners to verify the data that has been published and to understand the potential impact.”
Unlike the Wirral Trust, Alder Hey’s services remain operational, with no scheduled appointments or procedures affected.
A year of cyber woes for the NHS
This week’s attacks are the latest in a series of cybersecurity challenges faced by the NHS this year. In June, ransomware gang Qilin targeted London-based pathology services provider Synnovis, crippling services for months and causing widespread disruptions. More than 10,000 appointments and nearly 2,000 procedures were canceled, while urgent appeals for specific blood types highlighted the attack’s far-reaching impact.
