AXREM WELCOMES KING’S SPEECH – CYBER SECURITY AND RESILIENCE BILL

18 July 2024

AXREM like many other organisations were watching with interest the Kings Speech yesterday, and seeing what announcements would be made. It is clear that the new government are ‘hitting the ground running’ which AXREM welcomes.

AXREM welcomes the announcement of a Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. This will expand the remit of the existing regulation, putting regulators on a stronger footing and increasing reporting requirements to build a better picture in government of cyber threats. The bill will strengthen the UK’s cyber defences, ensuring that critical infrastructure and the digital services that companies rely on are secure.

With the recent cyber-attack on the NHS this is very timely and much needed. In response to the attack, NHS England London declared a regional incident and continues to coordinate work across affected services, as well as with neighbouring providers and national partners to manage disruption.

The data for the fifth week of reporting (1-7 July) shows that across the two most affected trusts, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, 1,286 acute outpatient appointments and 100 elective procedures had to be postponed because of the attack.

This means so far 6,199 acute outpatient appointments and 1,491 elective procedures have been postponed at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust since 3 June.

The King also said in his speech “My Government will improve the National Health Service as a service for all, providing care on the basis of need regardless of the ability to pay. It will seek to reduce the waiting times, focus on prevention and improve mental health provision for young people.”

AXREM are due to publish a paper in the coming weeks: Strengthening Cyber Security in UK Healthcare: A Strategic Approach for Continuity and Resilience.

We will also be publishing our Strategic Priorities 2025-27 on 3rd September with a parliamentary reception with one of our key strategic pillars being: Working together to secure against and respond to Cyber Attacks, so we look forward to engaging with Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health & Social care and his team to seeing how industry can assist.

ENDS