Synnovis Cyber Attack – Update

On 3 June, Synnovis – a pathology partnership between Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospitals NHS Trust and SYNLAB – was the victim of a ransomware cyber attack, resulting in interruptions to many of our services.

Investigation Progress

The investigation into the attack continues, including any possible impact to data. Once further information is known we will report in line with Information Commissioner’s Office requirements, and prioritise the notification of any impacted individuals or partners as required.

We also continue to engage with law enforcement and the Information Commissioner and are working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and NHS England’s (NHSE) Cyber Operations Team.

Operational Updates

Unfortunately, our capacity to process samples has been significantly reduced as a result of the incident and we have prioritised this capacity for urgent work.

We have delivered temporary workarounds including the redirection of non-urgent blood tests and result processing to other pathology labs to allow us to focus on urgent samples received from GPs, to ensure there is sufficient capacity for urgent testing and to prioritise the most clinically urgent tests for acute patients being cared for by our NHS hospital partners: King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Changes to processing of testing and results are being communicated directly to GPs and other service users to ensure a smooth transition.  

Technical Recovery

Synnovis is firmly focused on restoring services to our patients and users and working closely with NHSE and external specialists on technical recovery. We are delivering against a comprehensive plan which prioritises both clinical criticality and the safe and secure restoration of services.

In collaboration with our analytical platform suppliers, we have already brought our analysers back online, which is significant progress at this stage of the recovery process.

I am incredibly sorry for the inconvenience and upset this incident is causing to patients, service users and frontline NHS colleagues. Please be assured that we are working tirelessly to restore systems and explore all options to contain impact on services.

Our plan for the restoration of services is comprehensive and well underway, running in parallel to the forensic investigation being led by external specialists. Every available resource is focused on this plan.

Progress has been made, and I am confident momentum will continue to gain pace given the extraordinary efforts of our colleagues and partners in supporting clinicians and their patients during such a disruptive time.

Mark Dollar, Synnovis CEO

Media Queries:

For all media queries relating to the cyber attack please contact:
Telephone : +44 (0) 20 3077 0549
Email: [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

1. Synnovis is a pathology partnership between Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospitals NHS Trust, and SYNLAB, Europe’s largest provider of medical testing and diagnostics.
2. The immediate impact is on patients using NHS services within the hospitals of the two Trust partners and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, as well as GP services across Bexley, Greenwich, Lewisham, Bromley, Southwark and Lambeth boroughs