The NHS is in crisis mode tonight. Over 100 hospitals have been forced offline by a coordinated cyber-attack. Sources tell me this is the worst digital breach in the health service's history. Patient records are inaccessible. Operations are cancelled. Staff have reverted to pen and paper.
Whitehall is in a panic. The Cabinet Office convened an emergency Cobra meeting this evening. I am told the mood was grim. Ministers are furious. The attack targeted outdated Windows systems. Exactly the kind officials warned about for years.
The government's response? New protocols. But let's be clear. This is not a fix. This is a sticking plaster. The NHS has been underfunded on IT for a decade. Now we see the cost.
Downing Street insists the attack is contained. But I am hearing from multiple NHS sources that the real damage is yet to be counted. Patient data may have been exfiltrated. The National Cyber Security Centre is scrambling.
What happens now? The government will roll out mandatory cyber training. They will fast-track upgrades. But the damage to trust is done. Patients are worried. Doctors are exhausted.
This is a developing story. I am told a full statement from the Health Secretary is imminent. Watch this space.
