Cybersecurity
UK Hospital Hack Leaves Kidney Patients at Higher Risk of Heart Failure
- Ongoing delays to blood tests affected dialysis patients
- UK election has overshadowed protracted fallout from hack
Regular blood tests are critical for 46-year-old Londoner Amit Sanchadev, who relies on dialysis to keep him alive after his only functioning kidney failed in 2016.
He wakes up at 6 a.m. three times a week to plug himself into a home hemodialysis machine that acts as an artificial kidney, cleaning his blood of harmful waste products over about three hours. At least once a month, he sends a blood sample via bike courier to nearby King’s College Hospital for testing, to ensure the dialysis is working. An untreated spike in certain blood chemicals can lead to painful symptoms or even heart failure.