The latest on how Tullamore hospital is dealing with the cyber attack fallout
All services at the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore are now operational however, there continue to be delays in some services due to the impact of the IT Cyber Attack. Patients should attend their appointment unless contacted by the hospital.
A spokesperson for the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group said across the region scheduled care is being restored on a phased basis as systems recover from last month’s devastating cyber attack.
Local and national IT teams have made progress in recent weeks in restoring some of the critical patient information systems allowing hospitals to safely resume scheduled care. However, the cyber attack continues to have an adverse impact across the health service; recovery will be uneven, with manual workarounds continuing to be in place, across the various services. Therefore, delays should be expected and we continue to thank patients for the patience and support in this regard.
Emergency Department
Attendances to the Emergency Department at Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore remain high for this time of year. The hospital would ask patients to consider their care options via their GP or GP Out of Hours before presenting to the Emergency Department. Patients who require urgent care will be prioritised.
What to bring to your appointment
If possible, bring:
your most recent hospital letter
a copy of your current medications
Visit www.hse.ie for any further changes to services or disruptions.
Noreen Hynes, General Manager at Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, said: “The cyber attack has caused severe disruption in recent weeks. Our teams, with the support of the HSE ICT colleagues, continue the work of restoring our systems. While services are operational, work is continuing in the background to return and update the various systems. We have also been impacted administratively with limited, or no access to the internet and some staff emails. However, we have made significant progress and it is encouraging that the work done to date in prioritising the most important clinical and patient information systems has allowed us to gradually and safely restore services for patients.
"We are also working to reschedule patients cancelled over the last month as soon as possible. I would like to thank our staff for their continued commitment and dedication during this difficult time. I would also like to thank the community for their patience and we greatly appreciate their continued support while we work to restore our systems fully.”
Visiting during COVID-19
Visits to Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore need to be pre-arranged. You need to make an appointment if you want to visit a patient in a ward area. Contact the ward or unit in advance. Critical and compassionate circumstances continue to be accommodated on an individual basis.
Do not visit the hospital if you have symptoms of COVID-19 (high temperature, cough, shortness of breath, or loss or change to your sense of smell or taste).
The current visiting restrictions are kept under review and will be updated in line with national recommendations.