The ransomware attack on lab provider Synnovis in June 2024 resulted in large scale disruption to their provision of pathology services in South East London. The BBC investigation published today (15 April) looks at the extent of this, how long it has gone on without being resolved and how it has affected patients and their GPs.
Dr Michelle Drage, our CEO, provide information on the pan-London impact of the cyber attack, telling the BBC:
“We have never had so many emails and questions, apart from the beginning of Covid, about one particular thing, from one area in London. This is happening on a daily basis, on a clinic-by-clinic basis.
“We do not believe we can rely on Synnovis for accuracy. Our GPs have lost faith and trust in that service – that’s a horrible situation to be in.”
The report also covered Londonwide LMCs and LMCs in South East London’s work escalating concerns to integrated care board for the area, who have the contract with Synnovis, and to the hospital trusts that own a stake in the company.
Update 22 April:
Following on from the BBC story, Dr Sara Riley, our Medical Director for South East London was quoted in Pulse saying:
“Delayed or inaccurate test results mean anxiety for patients, the potential for late diagnosis and GPs having to work through huge numbers of results and holding risk while this is happening. When they do finally arrive there are no extra resources in practices to cover this activity.
“In many cases the same or similar problems have occurred repeatedly and there really does need to be some accountability for the effect this has on patients and their GPs.”
“We do not believe we can rely on Synnovis for accuracy, our GPs have lost faith and trust in the service. There are big questions to answer about how it is held to account for a series of problems including and pre-dating the cyber-attack.”