EAST Cheshire NHS Trust has confirmed that it is ‘prioritising the most urgent cases’ as it fights against a nationwide cyber-attack on the NHS.

It is believed that as many as 45 NHS organisations in the UK are under a ‘cyber-attack’ and East Cheshire NHS has confirmed that it is one of the organisations experiencing ‘IT disruption’.

A statement from East Cheshire NHS said: “Like other NHS organisations we are experiencing IT disruption in some areas of the trust.

“Business continuity plans are in place with all partners in the local area working to ensure continuity of care for all patients.

“We encourage all patients to use NHS services wisely at this time to ensure we treat the most urgent cases as priorities.

“If you do use NHS services please bear with us as you may experience longer than usual waits while we work to rectify the situation.”

East Cheshire NHS Trust runs Macclesfield District General Hospital as its main site as well as Knutsford Community Hospital, and other outpatient services in Knutsford, Handforth and Wilmslow.