Hack sparks call for help

Staff still using paper to process patients

BARWON Health has called for additional volunteers as it continues to grapple with the ransomware attack that has affected services since Monday.

Barwon Health remained offline and using paper systems yesterday, and said it was still awaiting expert advice on when systems would be restored.

About eight elective surgeries and some appointments were rescheduled.

A post for volunteers on social media said there was a “confirmed urgent request today’s need for volunteers will continue for the next four days”.

The call-out was for hospital support roles, who complete tasks including moving messages between wards.

Those volunteers are not usually required on weekends.

The hack has ensnared multiple regional health services, including across Warrnambool, Colac and Gippsland.

Barwon Health chief executive Frances Diver said the service had a team of cyber security experts supporting it as it restored IT systems.

“We’re awaiting advice from them on the time frame to return to our normal services,” Ms Diver said.

She praised the work of staff and volunteers in the face of the challenging incident.

“Patient care continues as usual across all sites and the University Hospital Geelong emergency department continues to treat patients,” Ms Diver said.

Health and Community Services Union state secretary Paul Healey said mental health workers had seen processes slow down.

“Because communication’s done so much with email, it’s turned into Healey said.

He said time spent doing paperwork was time spent away from patients.

“It puts more pressure on staff and it gets harder for consumers to get better outcomes,” he said.

“When you run a service and have people’s private information, you’ve got to have the best possible security, particularly in health where a turmoil,” Mr lack of information impact outcomes.”

The Victorian AuditorGeneral’s Office in May reported Barwon Health was “not proactive enough” when it came to cyber security, and hacked it to prove its cyber security deficiencies.

Barwon Health took the unusual step of taking out a paid advertisement in today’s Addy, in which Ms Diver reiterated that at this time, there was no evidence personal staff or patient information had been compromised. could