By Iain Gray

Copyright newsletter

Although the problems are now resolved, with the Trust saying all appointments and surgeries should be back on as normal tomorrow morning, officials admit they still don’t know what happened to cause the IT outage. That leads Upper Bann MP Mrs Lockhart to ask one simple question: “If no one knows what went wrong, how do we stop it happening again?” Patients were asked to avoid the Trust’s Emergency Departments unless absolutely necessary over the last two days, with Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry and Craigavon Area Hospital among the facilities affected. On Thursday afternoon (18th) the Trust said the trouble has “been resolved”. Officials are still investigating the cause, however, and warned that it will take time for absolutely everything to get back to business as usual. Any patients who suffered cancellations during the two days of IT problems has been contacted, the Trust has said, and their appointments are to be rescheduled “as soon as possible”. During the outage, Mrs Lockhart was inundated with calls from desperate constituents who had waited weeks or months for an appointment only for them to be cancelled. Arguing answers are needed quickly, she says people are willing to show goodwill during a sudden emergency, but they won’t be if it happens again. “For many people, the past two days have been a time of great concern and stress,” she told the News Letter. “It is absolutely vital that the Trust tracks down why and how this happened. We must know what the failure was, so that we can stop this happening again. “Answers are needed, and needed quickly. Any repeat of the last two days would be absolutely unacceptable to the people of the Southern Trust area.” A Trust spokesperson said officials have asked their IT system provider for a full technical analysis, which will “inform wider root cause investigations which are already underway”. Officials do not believe the outage was the result of any form of deliberate cyber-attack, however. Said the spokesperson: “We are hugely grateful for the support of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, other trusts and the wider health and social care system who have been supporting us this week. “We would also like to thank our local political representatives and other partner organisations who kindly offered assistance. “We again thank our dedicated staff who are working hard to ensure that we recover as quickly as possible from this issue and minimise any ongoing impact for patients.” Health Minister Mike Nesbitt moved to reassure the public about the security of Encompass, a new system holding all patient records digitally. “While the cause of the outage is investigated, I would like to provide reassurance about the resilience of Encompass,” he said. “Even during connection issues, an individual’s health record remains secure, and continuity of care is protected.”