Computer attack on Almada hospital threatens healthcare

The Southern District Physicians’ Union warned on Monday that a computer attack on Almada Hospital in April was putting health care for users and the safety of doctors at risk.

In a statement, the union states that a A series of actions are performed manually, which enhances medical error and limits access to essential care information, And that a complete solution to the situation is not expected for four months.

“The Medical Syndicate of Southern District (SMZS) is following with concern the situation at Hospital García de Orta (HGO), in Almada, after a computer attack at the end of April, in which doctors cannot access the computer system, jeopardizing the health care of users and the safety of health professionals,” Confirms.

The impossibility of accessing the Internet according to SMZS, Prevents creation of clinical diaries, standard setting of prior clinical data, electronic prescription of medicines, Obtaining sick leave or ordering diagnostic tests.

Currently, he adds, Doctors cannot access the users’ file, which increases medical error, and viewing tests is “only possible manually, without accessing appropriate parameters for reference values ​​and forcing in-hospital travel”.

“There have already been cases where the manual recipe has caused errors,” he stressed.

At the same time, the guild demonstrates, recording The first consultations are done manually, without transferring this data to the users’ digital clinical file, and the reports are sent via the doctors’ mobile phone, Where not all faxes work.

According to SMZS, which has a table meeting with hospital doctors, This situation has left health professionals and users extremely concerned, Frustration and insecurity, “which is due to the board’s lack of response, and which is excused in the contingency plan that does not provide an answer.”

For the Southern Region Physicians Guild, the solution to this situation should be a absolute priority, But its partial resolution is only expected in the summer and a full resolution in the fall – at least four months from now.

“At a time when computer attacks on many companies and institutions have multiplied, especially in the field of health, it is necessary that the guardianship and joint services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS) intervene in order to increase the cybersecurity of the state health services (SNS)”, she advocates for Syndicate structure in a statement, adding that the situation shows “the massive weakness of the SNS computer systems.”

In addition to meeting with hospital doctors, A The Federation assures that it will continue to respond, through the intervention of its legal service, In advising and supporting its members, he requested an urgent meeting with the HGO Board of Directors.

Two weeks after it was subjected to a cyber attack, the hospital stated in its response to Lusa Agency that the Clinical records of patients are already secured electronically and in a progressive manner throughout the unit.

The hospital in the Setubal region confirmed this Contingency plans were activated, clinical records were ensured on paper, and even with manual reporting, user identification was correctly established.

On the other hand, HGO stressed that the computer system was gradually restored, taking into account the directives of the Judicial Police (PJ) and the National Commission for Cyber ​​Security (CNCS) to determine the origin of this crime, and this was not possible. To setup an appointment.

The attack stems from Malware (malware) that spreads virally, called ransomware, in which the “ransom request” consists of an automatic message generated by the virus itself.

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