A number of hospitals across England were forced to divert emergency patients after being hit by a suspected cyber-attack.
According to a report by The Guardian, hospitals across the country appear to have been simultaneously hit by a bug in their IT systems, leading to many diverting emergency patients.
NHS England said it was aware of the problem and would release more details soon.
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East and North Hertfordshire NHS trust, one of the those affected, said in a statement: “Today (Friday, 12 May 2017), the trust has experienced a major IT problem, believed to be caused by a cyber attack. Immediately on discovery of the problem, the trust acted to protect its IT systems by shutting them down; it also meant that the trust’s telephone system is not able to accept incoming calls.”
“The trust is postponing all non-urgent activity for today and is asking people not to come to A&E – please ring NHS111 for urgent medical advice or 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Independent reported that a conversation circulating online saw one doctor saying “our hospital is down”.
“We got a message saying your computers are now under their control and pay a certain amount of money. And now everything is gone.”