No patient data affected by NHS cyber attack – Humza Yousaf

No patient data was affected by the cyber attack which disrupted NHS systems earlier this year, the Health Secretary has told MSPs.

Humza Yousaf was asked about the cyber attack on the NHS services provider Advanced which was first identified on August 4.

The ransomware attack hit all four nations in the UK, crippling a system called Adastra.

Responding to a question at Holyrood, Mr Yousaf said this was used by out-of-hours GPs in Scotland and it was brought back online in October.

He said: “Let me be completely clear, Presiding Officer, no NHS Scotland patient data was affected and well-established contingency arrangements were in place to sustain effective delivery.”

The Conservatives’ Tess White said that following the attack, NHS staff had been forced to keep patient records on paper and emails.

The Health Secretary repeated that no patient data was affected and that contingencies were put in place.

He said there was “improvements to be made” across the public sector to defend against cyber security.

Mr Yousaf said the Scottish Government worked “exceptionally closely” with the UK’s National Cybersecurity Centre.

Labour’s Paul O’Kane asked why more details of the attack had not been revealed earlier.

The Health Secretary said the attack had been widely reported in August and the Scottish Government had commented at the time.