GP SERVICES in Thornbury have almost returned to full capacity after the cyber attack on the NHS.

The Streamside Surgery practice, which is based at Thornbury Health Centre, was affected by the attack on Friday.

Hospitals and clinics across the country were forced to turn away patients on Friday after the mass-distributed ransomware virus caused them to lose access to their computers.

It is believed that the practice was the only medical service to be affected by the attack in South Gloucestershire, with engineers working through the weekend to restore systems.

The practice was unable to book routine appointments, or access test results and consultant referral information, but these services have since been restored.

Practice manager Stephanie Celso told the Gazette that work was still ongoing this morning, but that they were "nearly back to full capacity."

"We have limited service today as all of our computers have had to be completely rebuilt, but we anticipate we will be back up and running tomorrow.

"It has been a big piece of work and our staff and the engineers have done a brilliant job.

"The patients have also been fantastic, everyone has been very understanding and we are very appreciative."

She added that due to the cancellations that took place yesterday due to the inability to treat routine appointments, the practice was dealing with a backlog and asked for further patience while they catch-up.

"We are asking for everyone to please bear with us. While we will be booking appointments, if it is not urgent and can be left a couple of days, it would be really helpful while we get back on track."

The town's two other surgeries, Dr Foubister and Partners, and St Mary Surgery, were unaffected by the attack, but the former was only taking urgent cases yesterday until they were given the all clear.

Europol have said that the WannaCry ransomware cyber-attack has hit more than 200,000 computers in 150 countries since Friday, including Russia, China, Japan, Germany and South Korea.

For further updates on the status of Streamside Surgery, visit www.thornburyhealthcentre.nhs.uk