Editorial: Virus leaves only questions

OPINION: When the computers pack it in at a paper-pushing workplace or government department, chances are the queues will just get longer or they might shut the doors until it's all over.

There's little chance someone could die because of it.

But when it's at a hospital there's that possibility, however remote, if doctors don't have every piece of computer-provided information available.

Which is why we should all be worried about the virus which left 3000 Waikato District Health Board computers crippled for four days last week.

While the computers were down, people were still falling ill or getting injured. But from the country's second-largest hospital in Hamilton to its smaller satellites in Thames, Tokoroa and Taumarunui, medical staff were without computers and instant access to medical notes, lab tests and other vital information.

The computers were all finally back online yesterday and the DHB began its quest to find out what went wrong.

There are a couple of questions the public should expect to have answered.

Foremost among them is how the Conficker virus, against which countermeasures had been produced over a year previously, managed to get into a system that was supposedly fully patched.

Independent computer experts have indicated this an embarrassing slip-up. A systems upgrade was being conducted, but this is a partial excuse at best.

Who was responsible for what appears to be a monumental security lapse needs answering, as does what it has cost the taxpayer.

While the `how much' issue will probably eventually show up in DHB accounts, it is unlikely the `how' and the `who' will be answered given the DHB's track record. It's the second major computer glitch at the DHB in just over two years after enormous amounts of medical staff notes and research was lost in October 2007. While phrases like "corrective actions" were bandied about, the cause of the problem remained under wraps. The 2007 incident cost $37,800 in immediate technical help, and another $13,000 in investigating what caused it. Given the nature of the latest problem it's unlikely to expect a cheaper fix this time.

The silver lining on this latest dark cyber cloud was in the efforts of DHB staff to manage the crisis in a scenario that was ripe for chaos.

It was a comfort that staff appeared to step up to deliver their usual competent and professional medical care under what must have been trying circumstances.

As Health Waikato chief operating officer Jan Adams said: "What we have to remember is computers don't diagnose and treat patients, they help. Doctors and nurses diagnose, and that's what they've continued to do." She owes it to both her staff, who performed well under pressure, and the public, who need confidence in their health service, to come clean on what and who caused this.

- © Fairfax NZ News