Following a cyberattack, two ambulance services have been left without access to their patients' electronic records.
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The South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) and South Western Ambulance Service (SWASFT), which cover a population of 12 million people, are affected by the cyberattack. The attack targeted a third-party technology company used by consumers.
NHS England confirmed that it is investigating the incident in collaboration with the police and is continuing the necessary work to restore the normal operation .
The South Central Ambulance Service Trust attends incidents in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and Buckinghamshire, also providing non-emergency cover in Sussex and Surrey.
The South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust provides services in the Bristol area, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and the Isles of Scilly.
According to Health Service Journal correspondent Alison Moore, the service lost access to electronic patient records on July 18.
“This was due to a cyberattack that affected the supplier – a Swedish company called Ortivus,” he said.
Ortivus was a Swedish software company specializing in providing solutions for the healthcare and medical industries. It focused on developing technology for systems and related medical data management applications.
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Ms Moore said patients were not being directly affected, but ambulances were showing up without the usual medical history, such as allergies, major health conditions and medications. She added that she was confident the standard of care was extremely high, but admitted that incidents could take longer to deal with.
"Crews are on the road without important information about the people they have been called to see," he said.
An NHS spokesman said: “We are aware of an incident affecting a small number of ambulance services.”
“Our Cybersecurity Operations Center is working with the affected organizations to investigate, along with law enforcement colleagues.“
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The 999 call system is not affected and citizens can still communicate with ambulance services as normal, without any problems. Functionality remains intact and communication capabilities are available intact for the service of citizens.
