Fifteen months into a pandemic, just when it seemed things were looking up, along came the cyberattack to upend the health service and deliver the week from hell. Just as with Covid-19, the cyberattack hit hard and wide, but the damage wrought was not uniform. But with emails down across the health service, the disruption spread from hospitals to the community, as GPs were no longer able to make referrals or order tests. Despite the abundant use of ancient versions of Microsoft Word across the health service, officials said this was not a factor in what happened. The long-standing technology challenges faced by the health service were never more apparent than during the pandemic, when the lack of a proper e-health system made it hard to keep track of Covid-19.

Source: The Irish Times May 22, 2021 00:00 UTC