British hospitals are facing an unprecedented shortage of blood supplies due to disruption from an ongoing cyber attack, health authorities said on Thursday, as they imposed limits on blood use and appealed for more donations.
Large London hospitals run by Britain's state-funded National Health Service (NHS) have faced disruption since the June 3 ransomware attack on Synnovis, a provider of testing services.
The attack also meant thousands of appointments for people to donate blood could not go ahead.
A period of high demand, combined with the added challenge of finding blood donors over the summer, when people are away on holiday and warmer weather can leave people too dehydrated to give blood, had helped created the "perfect storm," the NHS said.