DUBLIN: Last Friday’s Ransomware, which literally shocked Ireland’s health sector, has been perhaps the biggest cyber-attack Ireland has ever seen. Experts point out that it can take weeks to understand the extent and impact of the attack.
This attack has had a major impact on the field of radiology. Hospital outpatient appointments, X-ray appointments and pediatric services were also disrupted.
Things move to a point where patients who need to start treatment as soon as the scan is completed, especially cancer patients who need radiotherapy and chemotherapy, are unable to do so.
Anil Cheriyil, an Indian and senior CT radiographer, said that the Cork University Hospital, which used to perform 60 to 80 MRI scans per day, now has less than 10 scans.
The PET scan for cancer patients has now been reduced to five or six. Meanwhile, IT experts claim that PACS (picture archiving and communication system), which provides storage and easy access to images after scanning, is safe. They also mentioned that losing such documents will have far repercussions.
While IT experts say it could take weeks or months for the HSE IT systems to return to normal, ordinary people who are waiting for various types of scanning are suffering.
The Irish Department of Health’s IT department has some of the best IT professionals in the world, so health workers like Anil and hundreds of patients are optimistic that things will be back to normal soon.
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