Recent cyber-attack
As you will be aware from the television news and daily press there was a cyber-attack on the NHS 111 service, which was spotted at 7am on Thursday 4th August. Advanced, the firm that provide digital services for the NHS and other clinical providers, took immediate action and isolated all of their health and care environments. Although SIMP are not part of, and do not have links to any NHS systems, our clinical system is hosted by Advanced and was therefore taken down. We have been advised that it may not be restored for another 6 to 8 weeks.
What does this mean?
We are currently unable to view any patient notes, view any bookings or send reminders.
How you can help
We would be grateful when you call or email if you can give us your full name, address, date of birth, telephone number, email address, NHS number, if known, and whether you have any allergies.
If you need a prescription then we can still issue your medication or written prescription, but we will need in addition to the information above, the name of the drug, the dosage, the amount you take per day/week and the amount you require. We are not able to produce invoices so once the system has been restored, we will contact you for the payment.
If you have an appointment that was made prior to the 4th August but is not yet due or is due later in the month or in September or October, please can you drop us an email with your contact details and the time and date of the appointment.
What if I need an appointment or emergency appointment?
Please call us as normal. Our lines are a little more busy than usual because we need to take down more information from you, but we are open from 8.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. There may be occasions where appointments may be double booked, or you may be asked to come in and wait for a space so please bear with us.
Updates
We are sorry for any inconvenience that this issue is causing and thank you for your patience and understanding.
We will publish any updates we receive from Advanced on our website, Facebook and Twitter.
Image credit to Pete Linforth from Pixabay