HAMPSHIRE Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has issued an update after the cyber-attacks that have taken place over the past few days, including that the walk-in X-ray service at Basingstoke hospital will be unavailable tomorrow (May 15.)

Numerous hospitals across the country and all over Hampshire were affected by “ransomware” that encrypted data and did not allow access to the data until the user had paid 300 US dollars’ worth of the online cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

The statement from Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said:

“The national cyber-attack has had a limited impact on some of our x-ray facilities at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital. These services will be temporarily reduced while the machines are being repaired.

“Emergency services continue and any patient with an appointment should attend as expected unless specifically contacted by the hospital.

"We would ask patients not to call the hospital to confirm appointments are still going ahead in order to keep our phone lines open for urgent enquiries.

“The walk-in x-ray service at Basingstoke will be closed on Monday 15 May for patients referred by their GP. Patients can attend Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Andover War Memorial Hospital or Alton Community Hospital as an alternative.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and are working closely with our engineers to restore our radiology machines as soon as possible.

“Services have been maintained over the weekend. Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester and Andover War Memorial Hospital have not been affected and there has been no loss of patient data as a result of the attack at any of the Hampshire Hospitals sites.”