CYBER ATTACK: New advice for patients - and warning for medical staff

Staff at GP surgeries across the Fylde coast have been told not to turn on their machines until given the all clear by IT workers.

And this morning, health bosses have also explained how people may be affected - and what they should do if they have appointments planned.

Blackpool Victoria Hospital

"Blackpool Victoria Hospital is coping and staff continue to treat patients in a genuine emergency, but we ask patients to help ensure the best possible service by using A&E only in life-threatening and urgent circumstances," a spokesman said.

Those with planned appointments should attend unless told otherwise.

GP surgeries

Despite many computer and telephone systems still being affected by the malware, all GP practices will be open as usual today, the trust said, but patients have been asked not to try and make a new appointment - by phone or in person - 'unless it is vital'.

Last night, Broadway Medical Centre in Fleetwood cancelled all routine appointments today, but said it would still operates its same day/triage system for urgent queries and appointments.

"We will be operating a paper-based system with patients being seen in order of clinical need, which may mean patients with less urgent problems may wait longer," a spokesman said.

Walk-In Centre in Whitegate Drive

Open as normal from 8am until 8pm. "Staff are treating patients with urgent but non-emergency needs as usual," the trust said.

Fleetwood Same Day Health Centre

Also open as normal, from 8am until 10pm, with staff treating 'urgent but non-emergency patients'. Call 0300 123 11 44 to make an appointment.

Suffering from a minor condition or ailment?

Call 111 for free for advice, or visit your pharmacist. "Doing so will help to make sure the most unwell and urgent patients are seen as quickly as possible," the trust added.

"We appreciate that, in some instances, patients will be inconvenienced but ask that all are kindly understanding of this ongoing situation."

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More than 200,000 victims in around 150 countries have been infected by the ransomware which originated in the UK and Spain on Friday before spreading globally.

Ciaran Martin, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, said the outbreak could continue to infect more systems and other victims may emerge.

"On Monday morning at the start of the new working week it's likely that successful attacks from Friday that haven't yet become apparent will become apparent," he told the Press Association.

"And also existing known infections can spread, we can't say what scale the new cases will occur at but it's likely there will be some."

An NHS England spokesman described it is a 'very complex emerging picture'.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard of the Royal College of General Practitioners said many GPs went into their practices on Sunday to reboot their computers and install updates.

"GPs, of course, can still diagnose and treat patients without using computers but we ask our patients to bear with us if routine services such as repeat prescriptions and appointment booking services are slightly disrupted this week," she said.

"In the meantime, we wish to reassure patients that your GP will be there for you as usual if you are taken ill and that you will receive the best possible care from the NHS, despite the current difficulties."

Around a fifth of NHS trusts were hit in the attack, forcing them to postpone operations and procedures over the weekend.

Seven hospitals remained on A&E divert on Sunday afternoon, with ambulances taking emergency patients elsewhere, NHS England said. Blackpool Victoria Hospital was not one of them.

Dr Anne Rainsberry, NHS incident director, said: "We have been working with 47 organisations providing urgent and emergency care who have been infected to varying degrees.

"Most have found ways of working around this but seven, including St Barts in London, have asked for extra support."

It comes amid concerns networks were left vulnerable because they were still using outdated Windows XP software.

Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer, described what happened as a 'powerful reminder' of the importance of updating software.

"The fact that so many computers remained vulnerable two months after the release of a patch illustrates this aspect," he said in a blog post.

"As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, there is simply no way for customers to protect themselves against threats unless they update their systems.

"Otherwise they're literally fighting the problems of the present with tools from the past."

Medical staff reported seeing computers go down 'one by one' as the Wanna Decryptor ransomware, also known as WannaCry, took hold, locking machines and demanding money to release the data.

The apparent chink in the NHS's defences led to criticism of the Government, with the Liberal Democrats demanding an inquiry.

Labour's shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, in a letter to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, said concerns were repeatedly flagged about outdated computer systems.

Investigators from around the globe, including the National Crime Agency, are working to hunt down those responsible for the virus.

A British cyber whiz was hailed an 'accidental hero' after he registered a domain name that unexpectedly stopped the spread of the virus.

The anonymous specialist, known only as MalwareTech, issued a warning that hackers could upgrade the virus to remove the kill switch.

Among those affected by the virus was Nissan, but the car manufacturer said there had been no major impact.

A spokesman said it was 'business as usual' for the Sunday night production shift at the plant in Sunderland.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Ashworth accused the Government of 'raiding' NHS capital budgets to fund day-to-day spending.

"Infrastructure budgets have been raided, have been cut back, which has meant hospital trusts have not been able to spend the money on upgrading their IT systems," he said.

However, security minister Ben Wallace, a Parliamentary candidate in Preston and Wyre, blamed changes under the last Labour government to stop contracting across the NHS with Microsoft, instead leaving IT up to individual trusts.

Mr Wallace said the attack had been 'very potent' and had spread very quickly, adding: "It's not about a billion pounds in this infrastructure or that infrastructure."