Delayed cancer diagnoses fears over HSE cyberattack backlog
Delayed cancer diagnoses fears over HSE cyberattack backlog
Patients could face a delay of eight, 10, or 12 weeks in getting their cancer diagnosis, experts warn.
SUN, 11 JUL, 2021 - 06:30
NIAMH GRIFFIN
Two months on from the cyberattack on the HSE and the consequences for patients are only starting to emerge, health professionals have warned.
Vice-president of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, Professor Rob Landers, said the IHCA has specific concerns around delayed cancer diagnoses.
“If there is a high suspicion that a patient has a cancer, that is always treated as urgent and it will go through,” he said.
“The worry is that there are several in that (backlog) who have cancer and nobody really suspects yet. They could face a delay of eight, 10, 12 weeks in getting their diagnosis.
He said there is a large backlog of tissue samples sent to histopathology laboratories to be checked for potential cancers.
“The cyberattack completely crippled the laboratory and radiology systems,” he said. “We effectively could only do about 5% of normal activity for a good three to four weeks.”
A pathologist usually assesses between 1,800 and 2,000 samples annually, he said, aiming for a 10-day turnaround.
The backlog at University Hospital Waterford, where he works, is between 1,000 and 1,500 cases.
“I imagine a lot of the other histopathology labs would have a similar issue,” he said.
“So the scale of the backlog in Waterford currently, you could almost argue, is one consultant for a whole year doing nothing else but addressing that kind of backlog.”
The IHCA have called for more IT funding before every health budget, Prof Landers said.
“It doesn’t seem to be a priority for the HSE, which is a pity, it really does hinder efficiency and quality and safety,” he said.
“We have a myriad of different IT systems operating across the health services, they need to be tied together.”
UL Hospital Group
At the UL Hospitals Group chief operations officer Noreen Spillane said the attack has been “really difficult” for patients following months of cancellations caused by the pandemic.
“We were just getting back up and running and the cyberattack happened,” she said, estimating by early May appointments had been back “almost to 89% of where we were pre-Covid.”
It is now believed about 10,000 patients missed out on appointments following the May 14 IT attack, including thousands of virtual appointments, she said.
Last year about 39,000 patients were treated online across the hospital group.
Noreen Spillane, chief operations officer UL Hospitals.
Noreen Spillane, chief operations officer UL Hospitals.
Ms Spillane said a lot of the cancellations were for elective surgery as doctors had no access to blood tests or scans.
And this month the Emergency Department at UHL has seen “record numbers” coming through, she said.
“Those patients are coming back in now for whatever was needed that we couldn’t provide at the time,” she said.
Patient details had to be taken down on paper, and merging these back into digital records continues this week.
They have been using a Staff App to communicate as even telephones were down during the first difficult weeks.
“It is going to be weeks before we are really back to normal,” Ms Spillane said.
“We are just about getting back now; patient safety was the most critical thing in all of this.”
Patient Data Dumps
HSE CEO Paul Reid told the Irish Examiner he is not aware of further releases of patient data by the criminal gang since information on 520 patients was released in May.
Analysis of how the breach happened is being done with security firm Mandiant Consulting, he said.
“Mandiant is producing a report for us, we don’t have that just yet. We will certainly be communicating that all out,” he said.
But he warned:
“There is an industry benchmark figure that says of organisations subject to an attack 56% of them are hit within a couple of weeks again.”
The High Court heard last Thursday an IT link through which the criminals were communicating with the HSE shut down in mid-June.
Patients could face a delay of eight, 10, or 12 weeks in getting their cancer diagnosis, experts warn.
SUN, 11 JUL, 2021 - 06:30
NIAMH GRIFFIN
Two months on from the cyberattack on the HSE and the consequences for patients are only starting to emerge, health professionals have warned.
Vice-president of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, Professor Rob Landers, said the IHCA has specific concerns around delayed cancer diagnoses.
“If there is a high suspicion that a patient has a cancer, that is always treated as urgent and it will go through,” he said.
“The worry is that there are several in that (backlog) who have cancer and nobody really suspects yet. They could face a delay of eight, 10, 12 weeks in getting their diagnosis.
He said there is a large backlog of tissue samples sent to histopathology laboratories to be checked for potential cancers.
“The cyberattack completely crippled the laboratory and radiology systems,” he said. “We effectively could only do about 5% of normal activity for a good three to four weeks.”
A pathologist usually assesses between 1,800 and 2,000 samples annually, he said, aiming for a 10-day turnaround.
The backlog at University Hospital Waterford, where he works, is between 1,000 and 1,500 cases.
“I imagine a lot of the other histopathology labs would have a similar issue,” he said.
“So the scale of the backlog in Waterford currently, you could almost argue, is one consultant for a whole year doing nothing else but addressing that kind of backlog.”
The IHCA have called for more IT funding before every health budget, Prof Landers said.
“It doesn’t seem to be a priority for the HSE, which is a pity, it really does hinder efficiency and quality and safety,” he said.
“We have a myriad of different IT systems operating across the health services, they need to be tied together.”
UL Hospital Group
At the UL Hospitals Group chief operations officer Noreen Spillane said the attack has been “really difficult” for patients following months of cancellations caused by the pandemic.
“We were just getting back up and running and the cyberattack happened,” she said, estimating by early May appointments had been back “almost to 89% of where we were pre-Covid.”
It is now believed about 10,000 patients missed out on appointments following the May 14 IT attack, including thousands of virtual appointments, she said.
Last year about 39,000 patients were treated online across the hospital group.
Noreen Spillane, chief operations officer UL Hospitals.
Noreen Spillane, chief operations officer UL Hospitals.
Ms Spillane said a lot of the cancellations were for elective surgery as doctors had no access to blood tests or scans.
And this month the Emergency Department at UHL has seen “record numbers” coming through, she said.
“Those patients are coming back in now for whatever was needed that we couldn’t provide at the time,” she said.
Patient details had to be taken down on paper, and merging these back into digital records continues this week.
They have been using a Staff App to communicate as even telephones were down during the first difficult weeks.
“It is going to be weeks before we are really back to normal,” Ms Spillane said.
“We are just about getting back now; patient safety was the most critical thing in all of this.”
Patient Data Dumps
HSE CEO Paul Reid told the Irish Examiner he is not aware of further releases of patient data by the criminal gang since information on 520 patients was released in May.
Analysis of how the breach happened is being done with security firm Mandiant Consulting, he said.
“Mandiant is producing a report for us, we don’t have that just yet. We will certainly be communicating that all out,” he said.
But he warned:
“There is an industry benchmark figure that says of organisations subject to an attack 56% of them are hit within a couple of weeks again.”
The High Court heard last Thursday an IT link through which the criminals were communicating with the HSE shut down in mid-June.
