The NHS cyberattack: IT runs through everything we do
The morning after the May 2017 ransomware attack, live on Sky News from the Royal London: how deeply IT now runs through NHS care, why anyone with symptoms of a heart attack or stroke should still come to A&E, and how bringing your own records helps.
On the day
On Friday 12 May 2017, a ransomware attack swept through NHS computer systems. Appointments and operations were cancelled, ambulances were diverted, and some hospitals fell back on pen and paper. The next morning I was outside the Royal London Hospital for Sky News, doing five live briefings, one on the hour from eight until noon. I set myself a simple brief for the run: no spin, just doctors.
This first one was a look through the morning papers. I wanted two things to land. First, that IT is not a back-office detail in a modern hospital: it runs through every step of care, from the 999 call to the aftercare. Second, the reassurance that matters most to a worried public: if you have symptoms of a heart attack or a stroke, or you are severely unwell, still come to A&E. We revert to pen and paper, and you will be seen.
What I said
The presenter’s questions are paraphrased. My answers are my own words from the recording, lightly edited for reading clarity; every turn has been checked against the recording.
Stephen Dixon paraphrased, from 0:00
Reviewing the morning papers, the presenter introduced me as an A&E doctor who was also, in his words, a bit of a tech geek and across the cyber issues, a useful combination that morning, and asked what had caught my eye in the coverage.
Dr Kishan Rees from the recording, 0:20
It says ambulances diverted, patients told not to go to A&E. You have all been picking up on this sense of crisis and chaos in the NHS, which I’m sure your viewers are getting quite bored of hearing: the NHS is always in crisis, always in chaos. But it really does show how IT is absolutely central to everything we do, whether it’s a patient picking up the phone to call an ambulance, or booking in, or us doing observations in A&E, right the way through to operating and then the aftercare. I have been researching this overnight, and to find so many trusts are still using Windows XP is amazing. Software 17 years old is running large chunks of the health service. NHS England is urging people to be reassured, and that is the important point for your viewers: if they are suffering symptoms of a heart attack or a stroke, or they are severely unwell, they should still attend, they should still come to A&E. Doctors and nurses will revert to pen and paper, as we do, because NHS IT has problems at the best of times, we all know that, and people will still be seen. But equally, if you are not critically unwell, if you can be seen by a GP or a pharmacist, please make use of those services.
Stephen Dixon paraphrased, from 1:46
What had struck him through all of this, the presenter said, was that IT now seemed so essential. For the smaller injuries, for example, why could patients not simply be seen and treated the way they were decades ago?
Dr Kishan Rees from the recording, 2:05
Healthcare is getting incredibly more complex. People are living longer, they are getting more diseases, there are more medications, and more professionals are involved in each patient’s care. So communicating between all of those teams is absolutely essential to deliver safe, high-quality care. We really are reliant on the IT infrastructure to deliver that.
Stephen Dixon paraphrased, from 2:24
Picking one last story before the break, he turned to the idea of the hackers holding the data to ransom and threatening to delete it.
Dr Kishan Rees from the recording, 2:29
I think it is all much of a muchness in terms of them holding the data to ransom and threatening to delete it. But there is one element I find interesting. As an A&E doctor, the patients who have ownership over their own information and come in with their own records make any doctor’s life easier, even when the IT systems are fully working. If someone comes in with their FP10, which is the prescription script that GPs and pharmacies give out, or any letters or notes they have, they will be eased through the process more quickly. We do send these out to people, but it would be genuinely useful for people to keep them and bring them in.
Broadcast by Sky News, 13 May 2017; clip from the WatMed Media archive, my own upload. Sky News retains the rights in the broadcast. This page carries my own contributions with the presenter’s questions paraphrased, credits the programme, and I will amend or remove on request.