Health

Global IT outage affects Hywel Dda Health Board

Published

6 months ago

July 19, 2024

A SIGNIFICANT global IT outage caused by a recent software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has severely disrupted services across various sectors, including healthcare, air travel, and retail. The incident, which began on Friday, 19 July, has affected computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system that use CrowdStrike’s Falcon security product.

Hywel Dda Health Board was affected and acknowledged the technical fault in a message to staff on Friday morning.

The Health Board said that the tech issue was impacting their sites, leading to some staff being unable to log onto the network.

However, they reassured that Office 365 applications such as Teams and Outlook remain unaffected, thus allowing remote work to continue uninterrupted.

Dr Junade Ali, a cybersecurity expert and Fellow at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), commented on the scale of the disruption: “The recent software update from CrowdStrike has resulted in a significant global outage. This issue has led to widespread disruptions, including air travel delays, interruptions in television broadcasting, and halted supermarket transactions. The NHS, which relies heavily on Windows computers, is also experiencing outages in critical systems used by GP practices. The root of the problem seems to be a defective system file included in the update.”

Beth Clarke, a digital expert and Committee Member for the BCS Special Interest Group in Software Testing, emphasized the complexity of the issue and the importance of rigorous software testing: “It’s too early to know what factors led to this defect making it into the update, but the cause is probably more complex than just one single point of failure. Incidents like this highlight the importance of thorough software testing and the critical role that software testers still play in the technology sector.”

The global impact of this outage underscores the increasing dependence on digital services and the critical need for their security and resilience. Professor Ian Corden, Fellow at the IET, reflected on the broader implications: “The major IT outages that are occurring around the world today highlight the ever-increasing dependence of national and regional economies, defence and national security, and private individuals on digital services. The importance of reliably-engineered software and IT systems is now paramount, especially where critical national infrastructure (CNI) is impacted.”

The problematic update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon, an endpoint detection and response (EDR) platform, has led to widespread service interruptions, particularly affecting systems running Microsoft software. Falcon is designed to protect computers and other devices from cyber threats by monitoring systems for intrusions and blocking malicious activities. The software’s high level of privilege allows it to significantly influence computer behaviour, preventing security breaches, but also means that any faults can have far-reaching consequences.

Ian Golding, another digital expert at the IET, highlighted the complexity of maintaining interoperability among various IT providers and systems: “Despite organisations using well-known and carefully chosen global IT providers, they all must work seamlessly together. This interoperability is usually extremely well managed and tested with great skill and diligence, but it is complex, and as we see, this can fail occasionally.”

David Smith, Head of Technology Strategy at the IET, pointed out the inherent risks in cloud services and the necessity for robust business continuity plans: “When cloud services go wrong, a large number of customers are affected. These types of services are updated constantly – a feature of the modern world and how we use technology at a global scale. Organisations should learn from every incident like this to become more resilient to events that affect so many customers around the world.”

As CrowdStrike continues to investigate the incident with the highest level of urgency, the long-term implications of this outage remain to be seen. This incident serves as a critical reminder of the need for meticulous software engineering and comprehensive disaster recovery strategies to mitigate the risks of such widespread disruptions in the future.

Health

Pressures remain high despite the end of ambulance ‘critical incident’

Published

1 day ago

January 1, 2025

Tom Sinclair

AMBULANCE service pressures remain high despite the end of a 48-hour critical incident declared by the Welsh Ambulance Service.

The incident, triggered by overwhelming demand and a backlog of 340 emergency calls on Monday, was formally stood down after significant strain on resources.

Judith Bryce, assistant director of operations, said: “While the critical incident is behind us, significant pressures remain, and it’s really important that the public play their part to protect our precious resources for those who need them most.”

Ambulance chiefs have urged the public to use the service responsibly, advising people to only dial 999 in life-threatening emergencies and consider alternatives such as NHS 111 Wales symptom checkers, pharmacists, minor injuries units, or GPs.

“For anyone under the weather after New Year’s Eve celebrations, consider what you can do at home to self-care, including for common ailments like coughs, sore throats, and diarrhoea,” Ms Bryce added.

She also warned the public to take extra care while yellow weather warnings for heavy rain and high winds remain in place, highlighting the risk of accidents on the road and injuries from slips, trips, and falls.

The pressures extended beyond the ambulance service, with health boards including Cwm Taf Morgannwg, Hywel Dda, Aneurin Bevan, and Cardiff and Vale reporting increased demand. These boards introduced mask-wearing measures last week due to rising flu cases.

Jason Killens, chief executive of the ambulance service, described the critical situation as “very rare” and stressed the importance of using emergency services wisely.

This is not the first time a critical incident has been declared during winter pressures. In December 2020, south Wales experienced a similar crisis, while an extraordinary incident was declared in 2023 after an ambulance waited over 28 hours outside a hospital.

The Welsh government acknowledged the ongoing pressures on urgent and emergency care services and urged the public to carefully consider their options before seeking care.

Health

Critical incident declared by Welsh Ambulance Service due to demand

Published

3 days ago

December 31, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A “CRITICAL INCIDENT” was declared by the Welsh Ambulance Service on Monday (Dec 30) evening due to significantly increased demand and extensive handover delays.

The service, which covers more than three million people across Wales, reported over 340 calls waiting to be answered at the time the incident was declared.

More than half of the ambulance vehicles were stuck outside hospitals waiting to hand over patients, resulting in some people waiting “many hours” for an ambulance and delays in answering emergency calls.

***Ambulances outside Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest (Image: Herald)***

Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, James Evans MS, said: “Another critical incident declared by the Welsh Ambulance Service with over 340 calls waiting, ambulances stuck outside hospitals, and patients waiting hours for care.

“This is not just a winter crisis, it is a symptom of long-term failures in Labour-run Wales. Patients and frontline workers deserve better.

“It’s time for real leadership to fix this problem once and for all.”

The public has been urged to call 999 only in the event of serious emergencies.

The Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust said it had implemented additional measures to ensure services could continue.

Stephen Sheldon, Head of Service, said: “It is very rare that we declare a critical incident, but with significant demand on our service and more than 90 ambulances waiting to hand over patients outside of hospital, our ability to help patients has been impacted.

“Regrettably, this means that some patients will wait longer for an ambulance to arrive and for their calls to be answered.

“For that, we are very sorry because this is not the level of service we want to provide.

“We understand that this is frustrating for patients, but can assure them that we are doing everything we can to relieve the pressure on our service.”

A critical incident is the highest alert level used by the NHS, allowing management to take immediate steps to create capacity.

Sheldon added: “The public can help by only calling 999 in the event of a life-threatening emergency – that’s a cardiac arrest, chest pain, breathing difficulties, loss of consciousness, choking, or catastrophic bleeding.

“If it’s not a life-threatening emergency, then it’s important you use one of the many alternatives to 999, starting with the symptom checkers on our NHS 111 Wales website, as well as your GP, pharmacist, and minor injuries unit.”

Earlier on Monday, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which operates Walsall Manor Hospital, also declared a critical incident due to rising numbers of people needing urgent and emergency hospital care, predominantly for respiratory conditions.

Health

Hospital visiting precautions in place ‘to protect patients’

Published

3 days ago

December 30, 2024

Tom Sinclair

VISITORS to hospitals across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, and Pembrokeshire are being asked to only attend if they are free of any potential flu-like symptoms, or any sickness or diarrhoea. Additionally, they may be requested to wear face masks before entry to certain wards or departments.

Seasonal flu and winter vomiting viruses are affecting patients on several wards with infection prevention and control actions being taken, as necessary.

Visitors are asked to only come to see their loved ones if they are free of any infections, to wash hands before leaving home and clean hands on arrival at the hospital/ward using the hand sanitiser. Visitors may also be asked to wear face masks/coverings on the ward/department they are visiting. Masks will be available at the hospital entrance or can be provided on affected wards.

There are additional restrictions in place that limit visitors to:

Acute Medical Assessment Unit (AMAU) at Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli. Please discuss individual patient visiting arrangements at AMAU with the nurse in charge.
This arrangement will be reviewed daily, and restrictions will be lifted as soon as possible. The health board’s website will be updated daily with details of wards with enhanced restrictions on visiting.

Janice Cole Williams, Assistant Director of Nursing at Hywel Dda University Health Board
said: “Within affected wards, all staff are wearing masks and visiting is limited at Prince Philip Hospital’s AMAU to help stop spread of infection.

“Our local community can help us avoid outbreaks of infection by not visiting family and friends in hospital if they are feeling unwell themselves.

“Annual flu vaccination is also undoubtedly the best way to protect against catching or spreading flu. Not only can it prevent you from becoming very unwell, it can also help reduce your risk of secondary infections such as pneumonia, which can be dangerous if you are clinically vulnerable.”

Vaccination centres are open, with no appointment needed today (Monday), until 5.30pm and tomorrow, Tuesday, December 31 for all people eligible for flu and COVID-19 vaccinations. This includes children aged two years (on 31 August 2024) to those in year 11 who can access the nasal flu vaccine at the centres.

Drop in any time between 9.15am and 5.30pm to your nearest vaccination centre:

Aberaeron (Aberaeron Integrated Care Centre, Vicarage Hill, Aberaeron, SA46 0DY)
Llanelli (Unit 2a, Dafen Industrial Estate, Heol Cropin, SA14 8QW)
Neyland (Unit 1 Honeyborough Retail Park, SA73 1SE)
The following groups are eligible for vaccination:

Flu vaccination

Children aged two and three years on 31 August 2024 
Children in primary school from reception class to year 6 (inclusive)  
Children in secondary school from year 7 to year 11 (inclusive)   
People aged six months to 64 years in clinical risk groups   
People aged 65 years and older (age on 31 March 2024)   
Pregnant women  
Carers aged 16 and over 
People aged six months to 65 years who live with someone who has a weakened immune system   
People with a learning disability  
Frontline health and social care workers  
All staff working in care homes with regular client contact
Poultry workers at high risk
COVID-19 vaccination

People aged six months to 64 years with a long-term health condition (which includes pregnant women and people with a weakened immune system)
Residents in a care home for older adults
People aged 65 years and older (age on 31 March 2025)
Unpaid carers
Frontline health and social care workers
Staff working in care homes for older adults
If you have any questions about accessing the flu and/or COVID-19 vaccine, please phone the health board on 0300 303 8322 option 1 or email: [email protected]