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The IT systems at three London hospitals were shut down yesterday after succumbing to an unidentified computer virus.

Managers at St Bartholomew's and the London NHS trust called a state of emergency when the system became heavily overloaded after the virus struck on Monday.

Engineers shut down email systems and internet access at Bart's hospital in the City, the Royal London in Whitechapel, and the London chest hospital in Bethnal Green, east London, and used back-up systems to keep operating theatres and outpatient clinics in service.

Ambulances were diverted to other hospitals.

The patient transport system used by elderly and disabled patients to attend routine appointments was also disrupted.

A spokesman said the engineers believed they had contained the virus on Monday night, but the system crashed when staff logged on yesterday.

He said: "There is no indication that this was a malicious attack, but engineers are still investigating where the virus came from and what it is." The bug did not infect the patient record system and there was no evidence that it spread to other trusts.

The shutdown came as a survey by the GPs' newspaper Pulse revealed widespread breaches of computer security by NHS staff.

Doctors and nurses are issued with smartcards that can be used to access electronic medical records.

In a survey of more than 300 GPs, Pulse found one in six were aware of NHS staff in their area sharing smartcards, usually to circumvent cumbersome log-on procedures or to make data available at several terminals.

About 5% of GPs admitted sharing their own smartcard.

A Connecting for Health spokesperson said: "Healthcare staff should not share smartcards and if smartcards are used improperly disciplinary procedures should follow."

Computer virus strikes at three London hospitals | Technology | The Guardian