Three major London hospitals have been forced to revert
to processing patients manually after a computer virus shut down
their computer systems.
St Bartholomew's, the Royal London Hospital and The London Chest
Hospital in Bethnal Green were forced to divert ambulances to other
hospitals to ensure that patients did not suffer.
All three hospitals are part of the Barts and London NHS Trusts
and were hit by the Mytob worm. A
statement on its website said:
"The Trust's well rehearsed emergency procedures have been
activated to ensure that key clinical systems continue while
network access is being established."
Manual backup systems are in use and we are in the process of
restoring the computer systems with priority being given to the
most important areas for maintaining patients services."
The hospital said operating theatres and outpatients departments
remained operational. They have however reduced some non-essential
activities.
"The Trust is making every effort to provide transport for those
patients that need it, but these services are likely to be
disrupted by difficulties with computer systems," said the
hospital.
Richard Hales, UK and Ireland country manager at F-Secure said
an urgent review of the security policy at Barts and The London NHS
Trust is needed. "If they are leaving themselves open to a simple
computer virus, it could just be the tip of the iceberg."