How is the Synnovis cyber attack affecting services in south east London?

South East London Integrated Care system (ICS) has apologised to patients and their families for service disruptions following the cyber attack on Monday. The South East London ICS is working urgently with Synnovis and hospital Trusts with the support of the government’s National Cyber Security Centre and their Cyber Operations team to take appropriate action.

The attack is affecting pathology services, including phlebotomy and cervical screening. South east London GP practices are affected and Oxleas is experiencing disruptions with several pathology services. Oxleas will release a definitive list of services affected by the attack later today. Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust's pathology services are not impacted, however, the Trust is experiencing increased system pressure from the closure of services. 

Practices are asked not to perform their own phlebotomy as there would be no capability to process the sample and return it. In the meantime, blood tests can still be ordered via electronic systems, but Synnovis has asked for patients to delay having non-urgent bloods taken until further notice and asked phlebotomy providers to cancel non-urgent appointments.

Emergency care continues to be available, and patients should access services as normal by dialling 999 in an emergency or using 111. Patients should also continue to attend appointments unless they are told otherwise.

South East London ICS will continue to provide updates for local patients and the public about the impact on services and how they can continue to get the care they need.

Updates are available on the ICB website