The cyber attack @HSELive @paulreiddublin @DonnellyStephen @NTBreakfast We have been at risk for years
1/ I fully applaud all my colleagues working in HSE hospitals who are working tirelessly to try and keep the show on the road without their IT systems. It must be incredibly difficult.
2/ Marry that challenge to the lack of beds, out of date imaging hardware, and buildings increasingly less than ideal for patient care. But the fact that the show goes in is a testament to the resilience and patient centred approach that all the frontline staff strive for.
3/ They are doing their best in a system that has a creaking IT system. Reports of major concerns for cyber attacks (National Risk Assessment reports) have been published annually since 2014, each one highlighting and ever increasing risk.
4/ Up to 2020, the annual budget was a pitiful 1.7 million per year for the National Cyber Security Centre! While this has increased this year to 5.1 million, there is currently a vacant top job...
5/ .. likely owing to a salary which will not attract the best candidates, with a salary approximately 80% less than that of Paul Reid.
6/ Our hospitals have been running on Windows 7 because most of the other systems in the hospitals like the labs, radiology, inpatient tests and lists, are so old (many are Dos based) that they are completely incompatible with any newer Windows operating systems.
7/ This hack was never a “what if we get hacked” but instead a “when will we get hacked”. And we now have our answer. It was unfortunately inevitable. Last year, the HSE said it had "a programme to migrate" Windows 7 computers to Windows 10 by the end of 2020.
8/ The HSE has since replaced 9,000 of the 46,000 computers leaving 37,000 depending on the old software - 12,000 of those cannot be replaced because they are needed to run radiology and other systems that cannot run on newer software.
9/ Our public system can be much better. The personnel are there. Hard working and willing. They need an infrastructure that promotes efficiency, safety, and productivity.
10/ And patients deserve the same.
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