Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust has said all its systems have returned to normal following a complete IT systems failure.
The trust declared a “critical incident” at around 11am on 23 September following the failure, which occurred the day before.
It added that all planned, routine surgery and outpatient appointments would be cancelled.
1/3: We have declared a critical incident following a critical IT systems failure. Our IT staff have been working overnight to try to resolve the issues and restore IT resilience…
— Torbay & South Devon NHS (@TorbaySDevonNHS) September 23, 2019
“The Trust’s IT teams have been working all night to try to resolve the issues, but with limited success so far,” a statement on the trust’s website said.
“Systems affected across Torbay and South Devon include clinical systems, email and telephones – at Torbay Hospital and all its community sites including Newton Abbot Hospital, Totnes Hospital, Brixham Hospital and Dawlish Hospital as well as GPs’ IT systems.”
Deputy chief executive and chief nurse, Jane Viner, apologised to patients and asked for understanding, adding the trust was doing everything it could to “urgently restore” IT resilience.
The trust’s IT systems were starting to return to normal, the trust announced at around 4.30pm on 23 September, after “well-rehearsed contingency plans” were implemented.
A statement said: “All systems are starting to return to normal at Torbay Hospital and our community sites following a critical IT systems failure. While all systems are now back up and running, we are in a period of recovery.
“We will provide a further update later this afternoon about any potential impact on appointments over the coming days while we recover from the incident.”
UPDATE: (1/4) All systems are starting to return to normal at #Torbay Hospital & our Community sites following a critical IT systems failure. While all systems are now back up and running, we are in a period of recovery… pic.twitter.com/IOMAUMnWOf
— Torbay & South Devon NHS (@TorbaySDevonNHS) September 23, 2019
Patients and staff should visit the trust’s website for updates.
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28 September 2019 @ 08:38
Further detail would be helpful for other organisations to learn any valuable lessons
24 September 2019 @ 09:35
It would be good to have a webinar, like the one we held after Wannacry, so that CIOs and CCIOs could benefit from the learning of Devon colleagues.
23 September 2019 @ 23:36
El Reg covered the story earlier today.
Devonitely not great: Torbay and South Devon NHS declares ‘major IT incident’
Do not come to hospital unless it’s critical, it tells patients on Facebook and Twitter
23 September 2019 @ 18:47
Really, an IT systems failure is the sort of thing I’d expect to see in the Sun, not a specialist IT website. What was it then, sounds like network or days centre?