Hospital chiefs have praised the dedication of staff, who worked 'tirelessly' to minimise disruption following a national cyber attack on the NHS.

Eastern Daily Press: Anna Davidson, new chairman of the James Paget University Hospital NHS Trust board of directors. Picture: Submitted by JPUHAnna Davidson, new chairman of the James Paget University Hospital NHS Trust board of directors. Picture: Submitted by JPUH (Image: Submitted by JPUH)

With the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust one of those affected by the wide-scale IT ransomware attack on May 12, staff and volunteers were 'totally dedicated' to getting systems up and running and ensuring that patients returned to a normal service.

This meant that by May 16, all patient operations and appointments went ahead as planned.

Speaking at a meeting of the James Paget University Hospital's (JPUH) board of directors today (Friday, May 26), chief executive Christine Allen hailed these efforts, admitting she was 'really proud.'

Mrs Allen said: 'Our IT team took decisive action which limited the spread of the virus and only a very small percentage of PCs were infected. Face to face briefings were held with staff so that all were clear on next steps in this quickly changing situation.

Eastern Daily Press: Christine Allen, chief executive of the James Paget University Hospital.Christine Allen, chief executive of the James Paget University Hospital. (Image: Archant)

'For the public and our patients, social media was crucial. On behalf of the entire executive team, I would like to thank our partner organisations and the media for their support.

'I am really proud of how well our staff worked together, under difficult circumstances, to keep clinical services running, and I would like to thank them for all their hard work and patience.'

Similar sentiments were shared by chairman of the board, Anna Davidson, who was overseeing her first public meeting in her new role.

'Our thanks to the IT department for working tirelessly.' Ms Davidson said. 'We thank every single member of staff for their hard work and for adapting working as they held everything together so well.'

With a number of reports discussed by directors, Julia Hunt, director of nursing, said: 'During April the challenge of filling shifts due to the current vacancy levels, maternity leave and short notice sickness absence remained.'

Staff sickness absence levels last month showed 'a reduction to 3.43 per cent' – below the 3.5pc target.

Recruitment wise, 'targeted international recruitment' is continuing, with nine Indian and Philippine nurse candidates going through the employment process and other candidates going through training.