CYBER security has been stepped up to the tune of £500,000 at South Warwickshire Foundation Trust.
The trust – which runs Warwick, Leamington, Stratford and Shipston hospitals – successfully bid for a cut of government funding from a £25million cyber security fund.
Hospital bosses have spent the money on software and hardware to improve defence from online attacks.
The focus shifted onto the NHS’ online security after a global attack in May 2017 which saw operations cancelled, patient records inaccessible and ambulances diverted.
Local healthcare providers were not affected but the attack caused SWFT to take a closer look at its online provisions and call in the services of military cyber security consultants.
The trust was previously the target of a cyber attack in July 2016 but due to the safety measures already in place there was no loss of patient data or patient safety incidents.
And bosses say recent improvements will make the trust’s data even safer.
A spokeswoman said: “The funding was made available from a central NHS England cyber security fund.
“Trusts were invited to bid for capital funding which would support local improvements to cyber security.
“The trust spent its allocation on various software and hardware based systems to add further layers of defence to our existing in-depth cyber security infrastructure.”
