Waikato DHB cyber attack: 'Good progress' restoring online systems and services

Waikato Hospital's emergency department has had a busy weekend but says it's managed to cope with the level of presentations, despite being crippled by a cyber attack earlier this week.

Waikato DHB chief Kevin Snee said yesterday the "sophisticated" attack was "certainly more serious than I first understood", but the organisation now had a good understanding of it.

Snee also revealed he wouldn't be handing over any ransom to the hackers after saying it remained unclear exactly when they would be back to normal from the attack he described as "the biggest in New Zealand's history".

In a statement today, said he expected it would continue into this week "and possibly beyond, while we restore our services using a carefully phased approach".

"Patient safety and service remains the number one priority. Our services have enacted contingency plans to continue safe and appropriate care for patients during this time."

He believed the DHB's five hospitals had suitable plans in place for the coming week of patient care.

As for the number of people who had presented at Waikato Hospital's ED, he said there had been 202 over the past 24 hours which was "slightly higher than we have been experiencing over the past few days".

"This is still about 75 per cent of normal activity. Staff were able to manage the workload, however we are still encouraging the public to keep all of our emergency departments for emergencies only."

Acute surgeries were progressing and planned elective surgeries were only going ahead if they could be done safely.

Because of the continued disruption, it had been necessary to cancel a number of specialty outpatient clinics, he said.

Despite the continued projected delays, Snee said they were now planning for the recovery phase of the attack operation.

"This includes re-booking patients who have had their appointments deferred as well as a process for entering the patient information manually into our systems.

"Our focus is on ensuring our patients receive the care they need as soon as possible. This could include additional weekend clinics or surgery, as well as support from other DHBs or from private providers.

"This is a significant cyber security event, which will take some time to remediate and investigate. We have a substantial team of specialists working around the clock to bring the DHB's services back."

Investigations into the cyber attack were "challenging and complex" but the DHB continued to engage with experts across both the Government and private sector, including world-leading specialists, he said.

Because of the nature of the incident, the DHB was not able to provide detailed comment as it was now under criminal investigation.

Snee yesterday wouldn't answer questions about whether the DHB was part of the Cortex capabilities launched with fanfare by Prime Minister John Key and the Government Communications Security Bureau in 2014.

The Cortex system, according to the GCSB, was to counter "cyber threats to organisations of national significance".

Key messages from Waikato DHB

• Emergency Departments across all of its hospitals remain for emergencies only. If you need immediate or urgent help, please continue to call 111. If it is not an emergency, please phone Healthline on 0800 611 116, visit your GP or local urgent care centre.

• The main number for external inquiries to Waikato DHB - 0800 276 216 - and the main DHB/hospital number - 07 839 8899 - are operational.

• However, phone lines are experiencing high volumes which may cause delays or call drop-outs. People are asked to keep trying as staff are working hard to answer every call.