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A self-spreading ransomware worm infected 34 English trusts and 603 primary-care and other NHS organisations, and at least 46 more trusts were disrupted. Thousands of appointments were cancelled and five hospitals diverted ambulances.
PathConnectivity & data → Devices → Human handoff
TierInfected trusts were locked out of devices and systems and used pen and paper; five diverted ambulances. Loss of power or phones is not documented. How tiers are assigned.
The National Audit Office found that at least 80 of 236 trusts in England were affected: 34 infected and locked out of devices (25 of them acute trusts) and 46 not infected but disrupted. Many of the 46 shut down email and other systems as a precaution because central advice did not reach them early enough, and had to use pen and paper. A further 603 primary-care and other NHS organisations were infected, including 595 GP practices. Five acute trusts diverted emergency ambulances to other hospitals. NHS England counted 6,912 cancelled appointments and estimated about 19,000 in total. All infected organisations had unpatched or unsupported Windows systems, and before the attack none of the 88 trusts NHS Digital had assessed had passed its cyber-security assessment. Ghafur et al. (npj Digital Medicine, 2019) analysed hospital episode data. Infected hospitals had about 6% fewer admissions per day during the attack week (4% fewer emergency and 9% fewer elective). The lost activity was valued at £5.9m. No measurable change in A&E deaths was found.[1,2,3]
NHS organisations reported no cases of patient harm (NAO). Ghafur et al. found no significant change in deaths in A&E but fewer admissions at infected hospitals. Harm from delayed care was not measured.
All incidents · Connectivity & data · Devices · Cascades · Human handoff
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