South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has expressed his concerns over the news that NHS Dumfries and Galloway has been the target of a cyber-attack.

As a result of the attack the local health board have warned that there may be some disruption to services and a risk that hackers have been able to acquire a significant quantity of information that could include patient-identifiable and staff-identifiable data.

Colin Smyth said, “Cyber-attacks on public and private bodies are not new but they are becoming more common and more sophisticated. The immediate priority for NHS Dumfries and Galloway must be ensuring there is a minimum impact on patient services.

“However, if any data on staff or patients has been accessed, the heath board and Scottish Government need to come clean as quickly as possible on exactly what information has been stolen and who has been affected.

“This will be a worrying time for anyone whose records are held by the NHS and it is vital those impacted are kept fully informed by NHS Dumfries and Galloway on how this may affect patients and staff and what action is being taken to secure sensitive data”.

A dedicated web-page has been established on the NHS Dumfries and Galloway website, available at this address: www.nhsdg.co.uk/cyberattack