NHS England London published its weekly update on 26 September 2024 on the clinical impact of the ransomware cyber attack against pathology services provider Synnovis on 3 June1. The data covers the sixteenth week after the attack, 16 to 22 September, and shows services across south east London are close to normal1.
In that week, six acute outpatient appointments and five elective procedures were postponed at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust1. Cumulatively, 10,152 acute outpatient appointments and 1,710 elective procedures have been postponed at the two trusts since the attack1. The update states that none of the postponed procedures were cancer treatments, no organs were diverted for use by other trusts, and no caesarean sections were postponed in the last week1. No community outpatient appointments were postponed in the week1.
The transfer of GP services back to Synnovis has been completed, with all GPs in south east London boroughs having access again to the full range of pathology testing services, including routine tests1. Synnovis is working to address the backlog of non-urgent tests in primary care1. Progress to restore blood transfusion systems is described as going well, with the service expected to resume soon1. Attention is now turning to administrative systems such as HR and procurement1.
NHS London Medical Director Jane Fryer said:
"The hard work of staff across the NHS over the last few months means we are now back to near-normal service levels across south east London."
The update notes that all numbers quoted are drawn from unvalidated management information, provided in the interests of transparency1.
| Measure (week 16, 16 to 22 September) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Acute outpatient appointments postponed in the week | 6 |
| Elective procedures postponed in the week | 5 |
| Total acute outpatient appointments postponed since 3 June | 10,152 |
| Total elective procedures postponed since 3 June | 1,710 |
| Cancer treatments among postponed procedures | None |
| Organs diverted to other trusts | None |
| Caesarean sections postponed in the week | None |
| Community outpatient appointments postponed in the week | None |
Why it matters for households
The update covers patients in south east London served by King's College Hospital and Guy's and St Thomas' trusts, and GP patients across all south east London boroughs1. NHS England London advises patients to continue to attend booked appointments unless contacted to say otherwise, with changes to treatment communicated through the usual routes including texts, phone calls and letters1. It advises people to continue to use NHS 111 through the NHS App, online or on the phone for non-urgent care, and to access emergency services in the normal way by dialling 999 in an emergency1. Patients waiting on blood tests are advised to keep an eye on Swiftqueue, the online booking service, as more appointments become available1. A helpline for people affected is available on 0345 87789671. O negative and O positive donors are still asked to urgently book appointments at donor centres, online or by calling 0300 123 23 231.
What happens next
NHS England London says updates will be provided weekly as the incident continues, with the next update on Thursday 3 October1. The NHS says it will continue to provide updates as more detail becomes available through Synnovis' full investigation1. The background to the incident is set out in The Synnovis Ransomware Incident and London NHS Pathology, and practical information for patients is in NHS Appointments, A&E and Tests During an IT Outage.
Synnovis Ransomware and NHS Labs
NHS Services During an IT Outage
