Seven hospitals affected by cyber attack still in need of support

Around a fifth of trusts were hit in Friday’s attack, which affected hundreds of organisations around the world.

Operations and procedures were cancelled over the weekend as experts battled to regain control of the networks.

Seven hospitals remained on A&E divert on Sunday afternoon, with ambulances taking emergency patients elsewhere, NHS England said.

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.

“If you have a hospital appointment you should still attend unless you are contacted and told not to.”

It is unknown how the attack has affected GP surgeries, which are due to open as usual on Monday.

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

Dr Rainsberry said: “We have also been offering advice and assistance to GP surgeries, who will open as usual tomorrow.

“Again, if you have an appointment you should still attend unless contacted and told not to.”

She urged people to “use the NHS wisely” and be patient with staff.

It comes amid concerns NHS networks were left vulnerable because they were still using outdated Windows XP software.

Medical staff reported seeing computers go down “one by one” as the attack took hold, locking machines and demanding money to release the data.