Lab tests still delayed after last month’s cyber attack
On June 21 National Health Laboratory Services experienced a security breach in their system and a ransomware attack crippled their IT systems forcing a manual processing of diagnostic samples.
The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) has provided an update on the ongoing impact of the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) cyber-attack, which crippled health services in late June.
Tshwane Health spokesperson Natashia Chhiba said all public health facilities in the metro, including its 24 PHC (primary healthcare clinics, are experiencing delays in laboratory test results.
She said according to NHLS, the lag is due to a security breach of the system and a ransomware attack that crippled the IT systems and forced manual processing of diagnostic samples.
The GDoH spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said while facilities continue to experience delays in test results contingency measures have helped stabilise the system.
According to Modiba, despite the challenges, health facilities have shown significant improvement since the cyber-attack.
He said the introduction of point-of-care machines and private laboratories doing the critical tests have improved the situation.
“The NHLS has improved the situation by utilising private laboratories for critical tests, focusing on emergency cases, particularly at high-volume facilities,” said Modiba.
He added that this additional expanded access to the eLab system has enabled clinicians to register and retrieve critical results more efficiently.
“A notable achievement was the successful completion of over 740 surgeries on Mandela Day (July 18) as part of the Surgical Marathon initiative, surpassing targets and last year’s numbers,” said Modaiba.
However, Modiba urged the public to remain patient as NHLS works to fully restore its systems.
He said the department was sure that services were gradually improving.
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