UK hospitals face ‘unprecedented’ blood shortage after cyber attack

A ransomware attack on testing services provider Synnovis has led to a shortage of blood supplies across UK hospitals. A high demand period and summer difficulties in finding donors due to holidays has exacerbated the crisis. Particularly affected is O group blood, critical for emergencies where the patient’s blood type is not known. There are currently 1.6 days of O group blood left, compared to a 4.3 days’ supply of all blood types.