SERVICES delivered by NHS Dumfries and Galloway are generally running as normal – following a cyber attack on its IT systems.
Meanwhile, work continues to assess the consequences of the incursion into NHS systems, and the concern that those responsible may have acquired a significant amount of data including patient and staff-specific information.
Offering an update, NHS Dumfries and Galloway Chief Executive Jeff Ace said: “As you would expect, this has been viewed as an extremely serious matter demanding a major response.
“Over recent days we’ve been very busy working with partner agencies to ensure the security of our systems, to adapt to the associated disruption, and to assess the potential risk posed by the hackers’ ability to access data.
“It must be noted that this is a live criminal investigation, and we are very limited in what we can say. In addition, a great deal of work is required in order to say with assurance what data may have been obtained, and we are not yet in that position.
“However, as it has been noted, there is reason to believe that those responsible may have acquired patient and staff-specific data.
“The NHS Board views patient and staff confidentiality as a key priority, along with ensuring welfare and wellbeing. As such, very great effort is being made to address this situation, and to try to prevent it from being repeated.
“We will look to update as and when we can, but in the meantime would again caution staff and patients to be on their guard for anyone accessing their systems, or anyone making contact with them claiming to be in possession of any information. Any such incidents should be reported immediately to Police Scotland on 101.”
A dedicated web-page with all information about the cyber attack can be viewed here: https://www.nhsdg.co.uk/cyberattack
Advice to individuals and their families on how to protect themselves from the impact of data is offered by the National Cyber Security Centre at this address: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/data-breaches
