Stocks of blood in the NHS have dropped to unprecedentedly low levels after a cyber attack on NHS provider Synnovis led to unfilled appointments at donation centres.
The attack, which took place in June, saw hackers compromise the NHS software provider Synnovis, leading to over 6,300 appointments and procedures being postponed at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust since the attack.
Demand for O-type blood following the recent cyber attack last month which impacted London hospitals and reduced collections due to high levels of unfilled appointments at donor centres has caused stocks of blood to drop to unprecedentedly low levels.
NHS Blood and Transplant has written to hospitals issuing an 'Amber Alert' which asks them to restrict the use of O-type blood to only essential cases and use substitutions where clinically safe to do so.
This alert details how there is only enough national stocks of O Negative blood type to last 1.6 days and national stocks of blood across all types are 4.3 days.
There are over 12,000 appointments still to fill in donor centres across England over the next two weeks including a combined 950 at Manchester’s two centres.
Hospitals will still carry out urgent, emergency trauma surgery, cancer surgery, transplant surgery and blood transfusions to treat people with long-term conditions. But O negative and O positive donors are being urged to book and fill appointments at donor centres as soon as possible.
NHSBT chief executive Dr Jo Farrar has described the situation as "critical".
"We're making an additional 1,000 appointments per week available, please take a moment to go online and book," she said.
"If you can't find an appointment immediately, please book in for the coming days, weeks and months. We will have an ongoing need for donations."
Synnovis cyber attack a “perfect storm”
The shortage follows a recent cyber attack, which saw a gang of Russian hackers, named Qilin, target a major lab services provider and demand a $ 50 million ransom. The attack impacted London hospitals and disrupted blood donation appointments in cities across the UK.
Synnovis is a vital lab service that processes blood tests and other diagnostic analyses for NHS organizations in southeast London.
The disruption caused by the ransomware attack significantly impacted the hospitals' ability to deliver services.
Officials report that over 6,300 appointments and procedures have been postponed at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust since the attack on June 3rd.
The culprit is suspected to be a Russian cybercriminal group called Qilin. The cyber-criminal group shared almost 400GB of information on their darknet site on Thursday night.
“The urgent appeal made by the NHS shows the severe impacts that cyber attacks have on the healthcare sector, said Andrew Lintell, General Manager, EMEA at Claroty.
“With the increasingly heavy reliance the NHS has on IT systems to deliver services, it’s vital that they can remain resilient during a cyber incident.”
