Limited resumption of services at Mayo University Hospital
INITIAL progress has been made to restore some hospital services at Mayo University Hospital following the ransomware attack on the HSE IT systems.
Catherine Donohoe, hospital manager, explained: “Work is ongoing to get essential systems such as radiology, diagnostic/laboratory and patient information back functioning fully.
“Even though we do not have all systems back, we are in a position to resume a limited number of services this week on a phased basis.
“Today and tomorrow we will go ahead with planned surgery and patients are being contacted directly. We are also recommencing a number of outpatient clinics and patients are being contacted directly if their appointments are going ahead.
“We have been able to keep our maternity services, dialysis appointments, physiotherapy appointments, trauma clinics and chemotherapy treatments going throughout the IT systems outage and patients should continue to come to their appointments for these services.
“Unfortunately patients attending the Emergency Department (ED) are facing long delays. However, yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) systems were restored to facilitate access within the ED to essential services like blood tests and radiology.
“This has been an extremely difficult time for the many patients who have been impacted by cancellations. We have set up a helpline for urgent calls from patients who have concerns regarding their medical condition following the cancellation of their appointment and we encourage patients to contact us if they have clinical concerns. The helpline number is (094) 9049310 and it is open from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m.”
She continued: “We are working to reschedule the cancelled appointments as soon as possible. This will take time particularly as the systems are still not back to a level that will allow us to resume normal service.
“I would like to thank all our patients and their families for their support and understanding throughout these disruptions and delays.
“I would like to acknowledge the incredible commitment of the staff in the hospital, many of whom have been working long hours and throughout the weekends, to enable a level of patient care to resume much earlier than expected.”
Overview of current hospital services:
LIMITED SERVICE FROM JUNE 3
· Outpatient clinics will resume on a phased basis and patients are being contacted by the hospital if their appointment is going ahead.
· Diagnostics including X-ray, CT scans, MRI appointments will resume on a phased basis and patients are being contacted by the hospital if their appointment is going ahead.
· Elective inpatient and day case procedures, including endoscopy, have been reinstated and patients should attend their appointments.
SERVICES CONTINUING
· Maternity services including antenatal scanning
· Dialysis
· Physiotherapy
· Trauma Clinics
· Chemotherapy
Ongoing updates on service disruptions will be provided on https://www.hse.ie/eng/ and on https://saolta.ie/.