MID Cheshire Hospitals Trust has confirmed that its services are now running as normal following the cyber-attack on the NHS that has swept the country.

NHS organisations across the country were hit with a cyber-attack on their IT systems last Friday, May 12, and continuing into this week.

Services at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages Crewe’s Leighton Hospital, Victoria Infirmary in Northwich and Elmhurst Care Centre in Winsford, experienced disruption over the weekend.

It stated that Leighton Hospital and its other sites had to be ‘isolated’ to prevent becoming infected by the computer virus.

Services are now running as normal but members of the public are being asked to only use A&E in ‘genuine emergency’ situations.

A spokesman for Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We are pleased to advise that Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust did not contract the computer virus that has affected a number of NHS organisations.

“To prevent infection and to allow for a safe period to verify security measures, however, we disconnected our network over the weekend.

“This had an impact on the level of communications and correspondence coming in and out of the Trust and we would like to thank the public for their patience and support during this time.

“We would like to confirm that our services are running as normal and to remind patients to attend any planned appointments unless they have been contacted directly by the Trust.

“Due to wider disruption in the local area it is anticipated that our emergency services will be very busy. We would therefore encourage the public to only use our A&E when there is a genuine emergency.

“If you need medical help fast but are unsure if it’s an emergency please call 111 for fast and free support. Pharmacists can also offer confidential advice.”