Irish Healthcare System Hit by Cyberattack: Hospitals Revert to Pen and Paper

The Irish healthcare system was struck by a major cyberattack, forcing authorities to shut down all national IT systems as a precautionary measure.

In a formal statement released by Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE), officials confirmed that the network was targeted early Friday morning by a sophisticated ransomware operation: “As a precaution, we have taken all IT systems offline to protect them from this attack and conduct a comprehensive security assessment.”

HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid characterized the breach as an “internationally orchestrated criminal enterprise,” stating that data hosted across central database servers was believed to be the primary target.

Officials stated that Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign was unaffected as it operated on a separate digital infrastructure, but the cyberattack impacted virtually all other IT systems managing national and local healthcare services.

Hospitals Revert to Paper Records

The HSE clarified that Ireland’s National Ambulance Service continued routine dispatch operations without interruption from the shutdown.

However, across hospitals, numerous appointments were abruptly canceled, and medical staff had to revert to pen-and-paper recordkeeping.

The National Maternity Hospital in Dublin warned of significant service disruptions throughout Friday. Another maternity hospital in the capital announced that all outpatient appointments—except for patients at least 36 weeks pregnant—had been canceled.