Statement on reported NHS cyber attack.

A number of NHS organisations including Southport NHS Trust have reported to NHS Digital that they have been affected by a ransomware attack which is affecting a number of different organisations.

According to reports, affected hospitals include those run by East and North Hertfordshire NHS trust, Barts Health in London, Essex Partnership university NHS trusts, the university hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS foundation trust, Southport and Ormskirk hospital NHS trust and Blackpool teaching hospital NHS foundation trust

The investigation is at an early stage but we believe the malware variant is Wanna Decryptor.

At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data has been accessed. We will continue to work with affected organisations to confirm this.

NHS Digital is working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, the Department of Health and NHS England to support affected organisations and to recommend appropriate mitigations.

This attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS and is affecting organisations from across a range of sectors.

Our focus is on supporting organisations to manage the incident swiftly and decisively, but we will continue to communicate with NHS colleagues and will share more information as it becomes available.

As at 15.30, 16 NHS organisations had reported that they were affected by this issue.