Comment: Why cybersecurity matters – Healthcare Today
Comment: Why cybersecurity matters – Healthcare Today
https://healthcaretoday.com/article/comment-why-cybersecurity-matters
Publish Date: 2026-05-22 01:05:00
Source Domain: healthcaretoday.com
Nigel Thomas, national specification and projects sales manager at ABB Electrification, asks if cybersecurity is the neglected frontline worker of UK healthcare.
In June 2024, a ransomware attack on Synnovis – an agency that manages blood testing laboratories for several major NHS trusts – disrupted more than 10,000 appointments across London hospitals. Tests were delayed, procedures were cancelled, and clinicians were forced to make impossible decisions when it came to patient priority. Later down the line, the attack was linked to the death of a patient at King’s College Hospital. It’s just one of a series of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure that have shook the world in the past decade.
On the frontline, cyberattacks have never been a distant IT problem for healthcare but an issue that plays out in real time, increasing pressure on staff that are already stretched. And as hospitals, walk-in centres, and GP practices become more digitally interconnected, the attack surface is only increasing. The risk is growing in ways the sector is only beginning to reckon with – as is awareness that poor cybersecurity is a direct threat to human life.
The downsides of digitalisation
Hospitals are no longer just clinical environments but complex, technology-driven buildings where smart systems control everything from energy efficiency in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), to security management and power distribution. Building Management Systems (BMS) now aggregate data from hundreds of sensors across an entire building, issuing commands to heating, cooling, and electrical infrastructure in real time. This connectivity delivers real benefits. It drives energy efficiency and supports the NHS’s Net Zero ambitions, and enables predictive maintenance that reduces costly downtime. But the same digital connectivity that makes the delivery of healthcare smarter and more efficient quietly increases the vulnerability of its patients.
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