NHS Confirms Patient Death Linked To Cyberattack That Hit Blood Testing Services

A ransomware attack on Synnovis, a pathology provider for London NHS hospitals, has been officially linked to a patient’s death. The June 2024 cyberattack, attributed to the Russian group Qilin, disrupted blood testing services, delaying over 10,000 appointments and 1,700 procedures. King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust confirmed that the delay in blood test results was a contributing factor in the fatality. Nearly 600 patient safety incidents were reported, including two cases of severe harm. The breach also led to a critical shortage of O-type blood and the leak of 400GB of sensitive patient data.