Auckland and Northland hospitals experienced a second IT outage in less than a month, Health New Zealand confirmed today. The hour-long disruption impacted the transfer of radiology images, forcing clinicians to rely on backup procedures. While the agency asserts patient care was not affected, the incident has reignited concerns about the fragility of the nation’s hospital IT infrastructure and the impact of recent funding cuts.
The outage, which began earlier today, affected the ability to transfer images from X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs. Health New Zealand stated services were fully restored within two hours, and standard backup processes were utilized to review radiology images during the disruption. This incident follows a major outage last month that crippled systems across the same regions for 12 hours, forcing staff to revert to paper-based records. The recurring failures are raising questions about the resilience of critical healthcare technology.
Second Outage Prompts Safety Concerns
The Public Service Association (PSA), New Zealand’s largest trade union, has sharply criticized the government, attributing the repeated outages to underfunding. Fleur Fitzsimmons, the PSA’s national secretary, described the situation as putting patient safety at risk. “The second critical failure is again exposing how fragile the hospital IT systems are,” she stated. “The picture archiving and communications system impacted by the outage is a critical function of our hospitals which clinicians rely on to access images so they can assess and treat patients needing urgent treatment in EDs, in operating theatres and elsewhere.”
Fitzsimmons explained that during the outage, clinicians and radiographers were forced to communicate vital scan information via text and phone, a process she believes inevitably slows down treatment and compromises patient care. She questioned how many more incidents are needed before urgent action is taken, stating, “New Zealanders deserve better, You can’t afford to wait.” The PSA has previously warned the government about the potential consequences of downsizing Health NZ’s digital services team, a move they claim has contributed to the current instability.
Government Defends IT Investment
Health New Zealand, however, maintains there is “no link” between recent IT outages and staffing levels within its Digital Services team. Acting chief information technology officer – digital services, Darren Douglass, told 1News that “all but one of the outages this month have been due to third party vendor issues.” He emphasized that the organization operates a “very complex technology environment” and has monitoring and support systems in place.
Douglass highlighted the existence of a 10-year Digital Investment Plan, approved by Cabinet in November, designed to modernize and strengthen the digital health system. “While we continue to improve and modernise our technology environment patient safety remains our priority,” he said, adding that hospitals have contingency plans to ensure continued safe patient care during IT disruptions. The plan aims to move towards a “modern, unified, and resilient digital health system,” according to Health New Zealand.
Impact on Radiology Services
The outages specifically impacted the transfer of radiology images, a crucial component of diagnosis and treatment planning. Radiology departments rely on Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) to quickly and securely access and share medical images. When these systems fail, it necessitates slower, manual methods of communication, potentially delaying critical decisions. The Northland region, according to the PSA, continued to experience issues following the latest outage.
The PSA’s concerns echo broader anxieties about the increasing reliance on technology within healthcare and the potential vulnerabilities that arise from system failures. The incidents underscore the need for robust backup systems, proactive maintenance, and adequate investment in IT infrastructure to ensure the continuity of patient care. The union is calling for an immediate review of funding for health digital services and IT infrastructure, as well as a commitment to properly resourcing system upgrades and maintenance.
Looking ahead, the effectiveness of the 10-year Digital Investment Plan will be closely scrutinized. The frequency of these outages raises questions about the plan’s implementation and whether it is adequately addressing the underlying issues of system fragility and resource allocation. Further investigation into the root causes of the outages, particularly the role of third-party vendors, is too expected. The ongoing situation demands a comprehensive and transparent response to safeguard the integrity of New Zealand’s healthcare system.
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