Critical incident declared in Nottingham after pathology IT failure

A critical incident declared at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) is not the result of a cyber attack, the trust has told Digital Health News.

NUH declared a critical incident on 10 September 2024, as a result of an IT failure in its pathology service, affecting the trust’s ability to process blood test results.

Patients have been urged not to attend the phlebotomy service at City Hospital or the Queen’s Medical Centre, including the treatment centre for regular tests until further notice.

The news was posted on X, on 10 September, including a video from Dr Mark Simmonds, deputy medical director at NUH, on what the critical incident means for patients.

❗️ Critical Incident Declared at Nottingham University Hospitals ❗️

We have declared a Critical Incident as a result of an IT failure in our Pathology service. This affects the time it takes to process blood test results, and impacts hospital services and primary care. Patients… pic.twitter.com/qlr8q77IBx

— Nottingham University Hospitals (@nottmhospitals) September 10, 2024

Dr Simmonds said in the post, that the IT failure meant that the trust “can’t process the results of blood tests in a timely way, which is having an impact both in the hospital and to primary care, GP and community services”.

He added that the trust is “having to put some processes in place to try to control demand on those services and make sure that we can keep our patients safe”.

A spokesperson for the trust told Digital Health News that the incident is not related to a cyber attack.

On a statement published on its website the trust said: “People should continue to attend other scheduled appointments unless informed otherwise.

“There will continue to be delays in the service while we work on a solution. This impacts blood tests from within the trust and from GP colleagues.

“Business continuity plans are in place, and we are working to prioritise the most urgent blood tests, including cancer and pre-op services”.

It added that patients and the local community can help the trust by continuing to use NHS services wisely, including by using NHS111 and only attending A&E where necessary as it continues to “experience increased pressures” following the incident.

In 2021, selected Indica Labs to support the digitisation of its pathology workflow. The company’s HALO AP digital pathology software was integrated with the hospitals’ CliniSys WinPath laboratory information system, according to a report in UK Authority.

The incident follows a ransomware attack on pathology service provider Synnovis in June 2024, which interrupted all of its IT systems and caused thousands of procedures and appointments to be postponed at King’s College Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trusts.