Health provider recovering from 'cyber-attack'

A healthcare provider subjected to a suspected cyber-attack said its staff are still working hard to "fully" catch up on the backlog of work five months on.

In December, Medway Community Healthcare (MCH), based in Gillingham Business Park, disconnected its computers following the discovery of "suspicious activity" on its IT system.

Five NHS organisations were attacked on the same weekend and MCH said it had never experienced a cyber-attack of such severity before, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Martin Riley, managing director of MCH, said currently there is "minimal ongoing issues" with their systems but added it is "not affecting patient care".

"Most cyber attacks take a substantial amount of time to be fully resolved, often upwards of six months," he added.

"The systems we are still working to fully recover are close to resolution and predominately waiting on third parties to respond."

Ms Riley said its IT teams continue to monitor all systems.

"Home tests for heart issues were also affected in that we didn't want to offer out equipment if we couldn't track the data produced," he added.

"We acknowledge there has been some inevitable disruption, but our staff continue to work hard to address any backlog."

Mr Riley said they have not received any formal complaints from patients who cannot access care as a result of this incident.

MCH runs 31 clinics across Medway including in Hoo, Rainham and Lordswood.

It employs more than 1,300 health workers and treats 10,000 patients each month.

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