While it says the majority of its IT issues are now resolved The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust is asking people that unless it is a “life or limb” situation to use other services.

The trust experienced significant IT issues across its hospitals and other NHS locations yesterday. 

They emphasised that it was a local issue and not a cyber attack following cyber attacks on hospitals in London this week.

In a statement issued this morning, the trust said while the majority of its IT issues had been resolved, it continued to provide all of its NHS services.

However it said some areas were still under pressure as a result of the outage, including its emergency department and ambulance handovers.

"Unless it’s a life or limb threatening emergency, we are asking people to use other services so we can help those who need it the most,” it said in the statement.

It says all GP and outpatient appointments, planned operations and procedures will be going ahead today and patients should go along to the GP surgery, hospital or health centre as planned.

“Anyone who has had an appointment postponed yesterday will be contacted directly to agree a new date,” they said.

It added: “Please continue to access the most appropriate service including your own GP surgery, local pharmacies, NHS 111, minor injury units and urgent treatment centre.”

It said: “We are grateful to our staff who worked together to continue to provide services and to minimise disruption for patients wherever possible during this time.”

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust is the main provider of acute and specialist care services in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It serves a population of around 470,000 people, a figure that can increase significantly with visitors during the busiest times of the year.

The Trust employs approximately 6,700 staff and has a budget of approximately £580 million.

The Trust is responsible for the provision of services at three main sites with approximately 750 beds: Royal Cornwall Hospital, Treliske, Truro West Cornwall Hospital, Penzance St Michael’s Hospital, Hayle.