NHS Dumfries and Galloway has confirmed some children’s mental health data has been published by criminals following a cyber attack.

A ransomware group targeted the health board earlier this year and has now published a large volume of patient data on an area of the internet called the dark web.

The health board’s chief executive Julie White said the hack was unprecedented and she apologised to patients and staff.

She said the number of people affected was still unknown but could be thousands.

Ms White described the data release as an “utterly abhorrent criminal act”.

She said work was now beginning with other national agencies including the Scottish government, police and National Cyber Security Centre to assess what has been published.

Ms White told BBC News that some children’s mental health dats had been published as a result of the hack.

“This could affect hundreds if not thousands of patients and staff across Dumfries and Galloway,” she added.

“At this point in time we are unable to give an exact figure.

“It is unlikely that it would affect every patient in Dumfries and Galloway but could affect significant quantities.

“What we’re fairly confident in at the moment is that the hackers were unable to access entire patient medical records.”