Tag Archives: cyber attack

Up to 10,000 scheduled public medical appointments and procedures have been cancelled in the Mid-West following the devastating cyber attack on the HSE’s information technology systems. The UL Hospitals’ Group has warned widespread service disruption will continue into a fourth week due to the impact of the criminal cyber attack. In a statement issued to the Clare Champion, the group confirmed it is working hard with local and national teams to restore information technology systems. Systems are being restored based on clinical priority and progress will be gradual. To date, approximately 10,000 patients have had scheduled appointments or procedures cancelled and outpatient appointments and elective surgeries remain cancelled until further notice. Record numbers have been attending the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) this week and less urgent patients are being advised to expect delays and to consider alternative options to access healthcare before attending ED. Service disruptions continue in University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital, Limerick, Ennis Hospital, …

Impact of cyber attack ‘bigger than Covid-19’ PUBLIC health services in Clare and the Mid-West will be impacted for a number of weeks while HSE information technology staff work around the clock dealing with the havoc wreaked by the cyber attack. UL Hospitals’ Group, chief clinical director, Professor Brian Lenehan has stated even when all information technology systems are safe and operational, staff will still be taken up dealing with the backlog that has to be inputted into their system. It is expected the impact of this cyber attack will continue to disrupt public health services over the coming weeks. Professor Lenehan has revealed the impact of the cyber attack is much bigger than Covid-19, because it had adversely affected their information systems throughout the public health service. He recalled that Covid-19 placed a focus on managing critical care and treating very sick patients, but it wasn’t as widespread as what has transpired since the cyber attack. While urgent and …

Thousands of appointments fall foul of HSE cyber attack PUBLIC hospital appointments for thousands of Clare patients have been cancelled amid fears it may take weeks to fully resolve the serious disruption caused by the cyber attack on the HSE’s information technology systems. Waiting lists for in-patient and outpatient procedures look set to soar over the coming weeks following the cancellation of all outpatient clinics and all elective inpatient and day case procedures except time-critical cases, diagnostic investigations including radiology and endoscopy services. This major unexpected disruption to health services in the Mid-West coincides with the release of official figures from the National Purchase Treatment Fund, which revealed the number of in-patients on waiting lists in the region increased by 34% from 4,798 in January 2020 to 6,465 in April 2021, while the number on outpatients jumped 6.4% from 47,134 in January 2020 to 50,189. There are currently 41,035 patients on the out-patients waiting list at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) …

CLARE people are being urged to continue following public health guidelines to minimise the spread of Covid-19 as acute hospitals in the region struggle to cope with the severe impact of the cyber attack on HSE information technology systems. The UL Hospitals’ Group has confirmed the number of Covid-19 positve patients admitted to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) has increased from two to 14 from May 13 to May 20. While the group stressed these figures should be interpreted with a large degree of caution, their clinicians are reporting an increase in Covid-19 related activity presenting to the ED at a time when the department, and all acute hospital services, are facing massive disruption as a result of last week’s cyber attack. The group continue to follow all national guidance on Covid-19 testing and we continue to take all the necessary infection control precautions. Separate Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 pathways remain in place for all patients attending the ED. The effects of …

The UL Hospitals’ Group has appealed to patients attending the Emergency Department (ED) in University Hospital Limerick to bring medical information that will assist staff while HSE information technology (IT) systems are down following the cyber attack. This includes any document or record such as the patient’s Medical Record Number (MRN) or Patient Chart Number (PCN). This information is usually on a sticker on hospital documentation, or on medications or prescriptions, or any hospital discharge information from a previous time spent in hospital. Services across the Group continue to be adversely impacted by the cyber attack on HSE IT systems. This extends to widespread cancellations in scheduled care across six public hospitals including University Hospital Limerick (UHL), University Maternity Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital. All outpatient clinics are cancelled. This includes paediatric outpatient appointments. All elective inpatient and day case procedures are cancelled. This is with the exception of time-critical cases and …

UL Hospitals Group have confirmed that outpatient appointments and elective procedures will go ahead as scheduled in the majority of cases tomorrow, Monday, May 17, at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and University Maternity Hospital Limerick. In a statement issued this afternoon, the group have advised that patients should attend their appointment/procedure unless contacted directly by the hospital and advised otherwise. The Emergency Department (ED) at UHL continues to operate 24-7, but is very busy. Members of the public are reminded to consider all care options and only attend the ED in an emergency. The statement went on to advise, “Non urgent patients may experience significant delays. Injury Units are operating in Ennis Hospital and Nenagh Hospital and are open from 8am to 8pm and St John’s Hospital from 8am to 7pm. The Maternity Emergency Unit is available 24-7 and the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit continues to operate an appointment only service. “Patients are …

    LONG delays are expected for patients attending services across UL Hospitals’  Group this Friday as a result of a serious ransomware attack on HSE information technology systems. Emergency services across hospitals in the region continue to operate today. Patients with an outpatient appointment or a scheduled procedure across the group’s six hospitals are advised to attend for their appointments/procedures unless they are directly contacted by the hospital and advised otherwise. The HSE nationally has taken the precaution of shutting down all information technology systems in order to protect them from this attack and to allow the authority fully assess the situation with their own security partners. The HSE apologise for any inconvenience caused to patients and to the public and will give further information as it becomes available. It is appealing to members of the public to be patient as they switch to manual back-up systems. Emergency services and unscheduled care continue to operate across all sites. This …

The Minister for Communications Denis Naughten will be briefing the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Infrastructure, Environment and Climate Action on the international cyber attack incident later this afternoon.The minister will also brief the Cabinet tomorrow (Tuesday). “There have been no further reported incidences of the ‘Wannacry2’ malware in Ireland, beyond the isolated case in a HSE funded facility in Wexford on Saturday. It is still possible that further incidences will arise and a sustained period of vigilance will be required, both in terms of updating and patching software and monitoring equipment,” he said. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis, and remains in close contact with international counterparts and with public and private sector entities in Ireland, both in terms of the dealing with the threat and taking measures to ensure that the impact of any future variants of this malware is limited. The NCSC …