London Hospitals Cancel Cancer Surgeries Following Cyber-Attack

Hospitals in London canceled cancer operations this week because of a Russian cyber-attack. The attack affected St Thomas’ and King’s College hospitals, making it impossible to safely perform necessary procedures. NHS England is working to reschedule postponed operations, impacting approximately 2 million people in south-east London.

Hospitals in London have had to cancel cancer operations this week due to a Russian cyber-attack causing serious disruption to NHS services.

St Thomas’ and King’s College hospitals postponed cancer surgeries as the hack compromised their ability to provide necessary blood transfusions.

Russian hackers, believed to be the Qilin group, executed a ransomware attack on Synnovis, which supplies blood tests to multiple hospitals in south-east London.

The attack has notably disrupted services at six NHS trusts and dozens of GP practices, impacting around 2 million people.

NHS England has postponed some non-urgent operations, including cancer and transplant surgeries, and is working to re-arrange appointments.

Dr Chris Streather, NHS England's medical director for London, apologized for the impact and assured efforts are being made to quickly reschedule treatments.