How did staff at NHS Lanarkshire work through global cyber attack?

Details have emerged of how NHS Lanarkshire staff and partners embarked on a heroic team effort to ensure to patient care and safety - in defiance of global hackers.

The ransomware cyber virus used in last Friday’s attack affected organisations throughout the world, including a number of hospitals across Lanarkshire and five GP practices in Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

At NHS Lanarkshire, a specially assembled strategic group, led by chief executive Calum Campbell, took to close down computer systems.

IT professionals worked round the clock to restore vital systems with the majority of outpatient clinics and planned operations going ahead as planned yesterday.

Calum Campbell said: “All staff groups have shown outstanding commitment.

“In particular, it should be recognised that NHS Lanarkshire’s eHealth Department has gone above and beyond and worked tirelessly throughout the weekend to restore critical systems and secure the IT infrastructure.

Calum added: “Overall, many people have played their part and I think the outcomes speak for themselves.

“We maintained access to all three Lanarkshire emergency departments throughout the weekend, for example, working closely with Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

“Whilst staff worked around the clock we acknowledge some patients had operations and appointments cancelled. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and we are endeavouring to rearrange these now.

“I’m incredibly proud of all staff and partners for the team effort and resilience shown to overcome the many local challenges that were thrown up by this significant global incident.”

Bellshill couple Cheryl McNulty and Scott Wright welcomed their twin daughters into the world on Saturday morning, in the midst of the cyber-attack that hit NHS Lanarkshire’s IT system.

Cheryl said: “I had a condition called placenta praevia, which made my pregnancy high risk. I had a moderate bleed on Tuesday, which meant that I was kept in to be monitored.

“Early on Saturday morning I had a heavy bleed and the decision was taken to deliver the babies early.

“The whole team came together to deliver my babies. There was no sense of panic. Everyone knew their role and I felt completely safe.

“They were all fantastic with me.”

Cheryl and Scott’s two baby girls were born in the early hours of Saturday at 3.12am and 3.13am.

Cheryl said: “At 34 weeks and six days pregnant, I had a caesarean section under general anaesthetic and the babies were taken to the neonatal unit after they were born.

“I knew it could be a major procedure and that we might have not have had as good an outcome as we have had.

“When I saw them I was overcome. The babies weren’t in neonatal for long; they were back beside me that day in time for our evening visitors.”

Cheryl added: “The staff were absolutely brilliant. If they hadn’t explained to be about the cyber-attack, I wouldn’t have been aware that there were any issues. The only thing I noticed was that everything was done on paper rather than a computer.

“From my point of view, it didn’t have any impact on my patient experience at all.

“I couldn’t say a bad word about the care that I received. It was such a positive experience.”

Cheryl and Scott are currently choosing names for their new born daughters and hope that they will be able to go home as a family soon.

Amanda Kennet, senior midwife for inpatients, said: “In maternity services, we are used to working in high stress situations and always aim to deliver good quality care no matter the circumstances

“Everyone played a vital role in Cheryl’s care. It shows that although we were dealing with adversity, keeping patients safe was the number one priority for every member of staff on shift.

“Cheryl is happy with the care that she received, which is testament to the staff and their professionalism.

“It doesn’t matter what comes along, we pull together and deal with it. You can’t break NHS Lanarkshire staff. We do this job because we love people and our patients are our priority.”

Robert Hall is one of the IT team who worked tirelessly to counter the attack on NHS Lanarkshire’s computers.

After the incident began on Friday he found himself coordinating the response at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, working until after midnight.

Enterprise architect Robert, 42, from East Kilbride, said: “I was supposed to be picking up my four-year-old daughter Rachael from nursery but I realised that wasn’t going to happen. My mum had to get her and take her home because my wife Annette also works for the health board and was on call.

“But putting your family life on hold is something you have to do in a situation like this and all my colleagues showed the same commitment to staying at their desks and working to fix the problem. Anyone I phoned for help was ready to muck in right away.”

A sleepless night was followed by a 16-hour shift on Saturday.

“It wasn’t until about 6pm that I realised I hadn’t eaten since breakfast,” said Robert, who then put in more long hours on Sunday and yesterday.(mon)

“I didn’t see my daughter for more than 10 minutes over the weekend but you just have to get on with it in a serious situation like this,” he added.

“We were well prepared to tackle an attack of this kind and our plan swung into action superbly as soon as we realised what was happening.”

One of Scotland’s top football officials – who is also an NHS service manager – explained how his weekend went into extra time as he helped tackle the impact of the hackers.

Paul O’Neill, of South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership, manages 100 frontline staff across Rutherglen and Cambuslang. He’s also a specialist assistant referee with the Scottish Football Association.

Paul, from Motherwell, drew on his experience of powder keg fixtures to deal with the challenge – and also found time to officiate a high-profile game during a non-stop weekend.

“The overriding focus over the weekend was patient safety and ensuring we were able to provide care for those requiring medical support, especially via the out of hours services.

“From Friday night, when we knew the organisation had been affected, the first priority was to make sure staff were fully aware of what was happening - even although there was no access to computer systems we’d normally use to communicate.

“That meant picking up the phones, texting and a lot of face-to-face communication. There was a tremendous effort among all staff to get the word out.

“From there we also put contingencies in place, including paper-based systems in out-of-hours to ensure all the patients who were coming in were seen by the professionals they had to be seen by. And they were.”

Paul worked late into Friday evening, and was back on hand to lend support throughout Sunday morning into Monday morning.

In between he managed to run the line during Spartans’ 3-0 away victory over Gretna 2008 in the semi-final of the Lowland League Cup.

“Someone asked me if I was feeling tired given the extended shift on Friday, the game and back into work on the Sunday but there was a real team spirit and focus to get on with the job.

“All staff at all levels doing whatever was required to ensure patients were seen during the period.

“To draw a parallel with a feisty football fixture, of which I’ve officiated over a few, you can never be distracted despite feeling like being at the eye of the storm.

“That sense of focus, despite the events unravelling around us, was clear throughout the weekend.”