Robert Hall is one of the heroic IT team who worked tirelessly to counter the attack on NHS Lanarkshire’s computers.

After the incident began on the Friday he found himself coordinating the response at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, working until after midnight.

Enterprise architect Robert, 42, from East Kilbride, said: “I was supposed to be picking up my four-year-old daughter Rachael from nursery but I realised that wasn’t going to happen. My mum had to get her and take her home because my wife Annette also works for the health board and was on call.

“But putting your family life on hold is something you have to do in a situation like this and all my colleagues showed the same commitment to staying at their desks and working to fix the problem. Anyone I phoned for help was ready to muck in right away.”

A sleepless night was followed by a 16-hour shift on the Saturday.

“It wasn’t until about 6pm that I realised I hadn’t eaten since breakfast,” said Robert, who then put in more long hours on the Sunday and Monday.

“I didn’t see my daughter for more than 10 minutes over the weekend but you just have to get on with it in a serious situation like this,” he added.

“We were well prepared to tackle an attack of this kind and our plan swung into action superbly as soon as we realised what was happening.”