More NHS hospitals affected by 'major cyber incident' as appointments cancelled

A major cyber security incident is affecting multiple hospitals in Merseyside, with appointments cancelled and people still being urged to stay away if they can.

On Monday night the ECHO reported that a major incident had been declared affecting Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral. Hospital bosses told people to only attend its emergency department if they had a genuine emergency, with all outpatient appointments scheduled for today (Tuesday) cancelled.

But Arrowe Park is not the only hospital that comes under the Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust. The Trust also manages Clatterbridge Hospital, based in Bebington and the Wirral Women and Children's Hospital. The Trust has confirmed that all of its hospitals have been affected by the cyber attack, with appointments cancelled across all of its sites on Tuesday.

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An earlier statement from the trust said: "A major incident has been declared at the Trust for cyber security reasons. Our business continuity processes are in place, and our priority remains ensuring patient safety. All outpatient appointments scheduled today are cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience and we will contact our patients as soon as possible to rearrange.

“We urge all members of the public to attend the Emergency Department only for genuine emergencies. For non-urgent health concerns, please use NHS 111, visit a walk-in centre, urgent treatment centre, your GP, or pharmacist.”

As of 4pm on Tuesday, there was no further update on the situation from the Trust, including no updates about what it could mean for appointments at the Wirral hospitals on Wednesday. The Trust said it would be updating its website when the situation changed.

On Monday night as the incident was declared, one patient said that a message was announced on the Arrowe Park's overhead speakers which said they are declaring a major incident and non-emergencies should consider going home and coming back tomorrow.

A staff member at the hospital told the ECHO: “Everything is down. Everything is done electronically so there’s no access to records, results or anything so we are having to do everything manually, which is really difficult. The damage is huge."