A number of London’s biggest hospitals, including one linked to Princess Kate, have had patient procedures impacted by a major healthcare industry cyber attack.
Evelina London Children’s Hospital, of which Kate has been a patron since 2018, is among the facilities to have been affected by what the has reported as a “major IT incident.”
King’s College Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in the British capital as well as general practitioner services in large areas of London are also reported to have been affected in the ransomware attack on pathology services provider, Synnovis.
Synnovis is one of Britain’s largest pathology service providers, formed in a partnership between SYNLAB UK & Ireland and the Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital NHS foundation trusts.
The cyber attack is reported to have been detected on Monday and has limited hospital access to pathology records impacting critical procedures such as blood transfusions.
The London Clinic, the hospital in which Kate spent two weeks in January for abdominal surgery, has confirmed to Regalrumination.com that they are not one of the institutions to have been affected by the attack.
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In a statement issued on Tuesday seen by Regalrumination.com, Synnovis CEO, Mark Dollar confirmed the cyber attack, issuing an apology to patients who are experiencing “inconvenience and upset.”
“We take cybersecurity very seriously at Synnovis and have invested heavily in ensuring our IT arrangements are as safe as they possibly can be,” he said. “This is a harsh reminder that this sort of attack can happen to anyone at any time and that, dispiritingly, the individuals behind it have no scruples about who their actions might affect.”
The organization has reported the attack to law enforcement and is working with the National Cyber Security Centre and the Cyber Operations Team.
A spokesperson for National Health Service London also said it was “working urgently to fully understand the impact of the incident.”
Regalrumination.com approached Kensington Palace and representatives of Evelina London via email for comment.
Princess Kate has been a long-term supporter of Evelina London which helps critically ill children and their families, opening a special wing of their facility based at the St Thomas’ Hospital in London. The extent of the effect the Synnovis attack has had on the facility is yet unknown.
Kate opened the facility’s new Children’s Day Surgery Unit on December 5 which features two brand new operating theatres, allowing the organization to treat an additional 2,300 patients per year.
The engagement was one of the princesses’ last official appearances before stepping out of the public eye in January, first to undergo abdominal surgery and then after announcing in March that she had been
The princess said in a video statement that she was receiving a course of “preventative chemotherapy” and asked for space and privacy to focus on her health.
There has been no official comment from Kensington Palace on a timescale for Kate’s return to work, though in May a: “The princess is not expected to return to work until it’s cleared by her medical team.”
In her video announcement in March, the royal said she was looking forward to returning to her public duties but needed time to rest and recuperate from her treatment.
“We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment,” she said.
“My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and I look forward to being back when I am able, but for now I must focus on making a full recovery.”
William Brown is Regalrumination.com‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly ) at and read his stories on Regalrumination.com‘s
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