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A “major” cyber attack hits NHS systems across UK, as ministers coordinate “resilience response” to deal with the security breach.
The outage is significant and far-reaching, according to the Welsh Ambulance Service, as this affects all four nations in the UK.
The cyber security incident was identified at 7am on Thursday last week and has affected the system used for dispatching ambulances, booking of out-of-hours appointments, and issuance of emergency prescriptions.
Ministers are being "continually briefed" on the cyber incident, Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf added, and are "working closely on a four-nations basis" to organise a response.
UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay confirmed he was "being regularly briefed on the incident" affecting NHS 111 services across the UK.
"NHS England has contingency plans in place in areas affected and disruption to the service is minimal," Barclay said.
There could be delays after the attack led to a "major" computer system outage and people seeking medical help via the NHS 111 service have been warned.
Although the NHS has "developed and deployed plans so services can continue to operate", this weekend is set to be busier than usual for 111 in Wales, according to Sky News UK, and it may take longer for calls to be answered.
NHS England 111 services are still available and the department assures there is "currently minimal disruption", with "tried-and-tested contingency plans in place". The NHS has also clarified that "those unwell can continue to use 111 services or should call 999 in an emergency".
According to a Scottish government spokesman, they are working with other health boards and the National Cyber Security Centre "to fully understand [the] potential impact" caused by the disruption to a system used by one of NHS Scotland's suppliers.
In Northern Ireland, steps have been taken to avoid a risk to other critical systems and services being hit as Northern Ireland's Department of Health works to keep disruption to a minimum.
The issue was contained to "a small number of servers" according to Advanced, the software and services provider affected by the cyber attack, stating that the servers impacted represented 2 per cent of its health and care infrastructure.
As ministers coordinate a "resilience response" to deal with a cyber attack affecting NHS systems across the UK, Simon Short, chief operating officer of Advanced, has offered a statement of reassurance.
"We continue to work with the NHS and health and care bodies as well as our technology and security partners, focused on recovery of all systems over the weekend and during the early part of next week," Short said.
[Related: Dark web investigation uncovers ransomware marketplace]
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