By Harry Page, UK & Ireland Office Print Category Team Lead, HP
In healthcare, we tend to think of cyber incidents in terms of stolen data or headline-grabbing ransomware attacks. But the operational impact is often quieter – yet just as disruptive.
When a security alert triggers containment measures, basic infrastructure can be taken offline as a precaution. That includes printers, which are often treated as peripheral devices, but in practice sit at the heart of day-to-day clinical workflows.
Imagine a clinician responding to a deteriorating patient in an acute medical unit. Blood cultures are needed immediately. A lactate needs to be sent. Antibiotics must follow. The team moves quickly until they reach the nurses’ station and find the label printer offline – silent, screen blank. The wristband printer beside it is down too. A notice has been taped to the phone in block capitals: ‘POTENTIAL SECURITY INCIDENT. ISOLATE NON-ESSENTIAL ENDPOINTS WHILE WE INVESTIGATE. DOWNTIME PROCEDURES IN PLACE.’
The samples can still be taken, but without barcode labels they can’t go through the usual pathology workflow. Patient identifiers are written down manually in block capitals on each bottle and form, then read back and double-checked – name, date of birth, time taken – with two signatures on every specimen. Still safe, but slower. A porter waits with a cool box for the lab run, because the lab will only accept downtime specimens with full identifiers and a second check.
Care doesn’t stop, but flow does – and in a hospital, lost minutes have a habit of multiplying.
Security breaches and printer issues also do more than just slow down frontline healthcare teams; they ramp up the pressure on NHS IT managers, many of whom are already overloaded, meaning restoring services can take even longer.
Real-world risk – regardless of your buying model
To understand the real-world ramifications, we can look to the Synnovis cyber incident, which contributed to delays to over 11,000 outpatient and elective procedure appointments. In its 10 November 2025 update, NHS England said the ransomware attack had its biggest impact across Synnovis’ partner trusts and boroughs in south-east London – a reminder of how quickly incidents can cascade.
Whether printers are purchased transactionally or supplied through a managed model, to attackers – they’re like any other endpoint on your network – just another potential way in. And the threat posed by state-backed or private cybercriminals continues to grow.
A common contributing factor for primary care providers is that devices are often replaced one at a time. When fleets are built up gradually like this, firmware updates, software settings, consumables and support services can all become piecemeal and inconsistent. That makes both security and reliability far harder to standardise.
The priority, in response, is to procure secure, prescription- and patient-record-compliant devices that are designed around NHS primary care providers’ needs – ultra-reliable printers that integrate seamlessly with clinical systems and are compact enough for busy, space-constrained settings. These devices should also offer built-in, end-to-end protection across firmware, network and software layers. By treating printers properly as endpoints, IT teams and frontline staff can spend less time on reactive security management and more time focused on patients. So, whether printers are bought transactionally as required or supplied through a managed model, they should be secure by default and straightforward to standardise – reducing variation and supporting centralised control.
Baseline protections we recommend as standard
There are several benefits we consider essential, whether an NHS organisation is replacing a single printer or deploying hundreds to support an Integrated Care Board.
Future-proof firmware (e.g., HP FutureSmart): When a printer’s firmware is updated automatically over time, new functionality and security enhancements can be rolled out without swapping hardware. IT can plan and push upgrades fleet-wide (rather than room by room) and keep devices current on a consistent platform.
Secure out of the box (e.g., HP Secure Defaults): ‘Secure by default’ means devices arrive locked down, without requiring extra setup. A GP surgery should be able to connect a replacement printer and know baseline protections are already in place.
Centralised fleet policy and reporting (e.g., HP Security Manager): It’s much easier for an ICB or primary care organisation to standardise print security across practices and verify compliance when they can define a policy once and apply it to every device, with automated reporting.
Self-healing firmware integrity (e.g., HP Sure Start): This validates the integrity of a printer’s BIOS at start-up and, if validation fails, restarts using a safe ‘golden copy’ stored in an isolated location. If a consulting-room printer gets corrupted firmware overnight, it can recover automatically by Monday morning so clinics aren’t delayed.
Autonomous network threat checks (e.g., HP Connection Inspector): Automatically inspecting outbound network activity (including DNS traffic) helps identify suspicious behaviour associated with malware. If a compromise is suspected, a safe restart can be triggered to begin the self-healing process.
Continuous reinvention
At HP, we believe these measures are too important to be bolt-on extras. They need to be built in and integrated, so they operate automatically, 24/7, across the fleet – strengthening reliability and helping support quality of care.
Modern print security is particularly valuable because it can keep pace with the NHS as needs and threats evolve. As guidance shifts and new risks emerge, policies and firmware can be updated centrally and rolled out across devices – maintaining security and interoperability over time without constant hardware replacement.
With the right approach, we can protect day-to-day care: fewer outages, fewer reactive fixes, less fallback to handwriting and rechecks – and more uninterrupted time for clinicians to focus on patients. All of which supports a more resilient and secure NHS.
To strengthen print security across primary care – whether you’re replacing a single device or standardising an estate – talk to HP about assessing your current print environment and defining a secure baseline.
