Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2013 Week 10 Hansard (14 August) . . Page.. 2992..
An incident occurred where someone inadvertently pressed the main override power switch which controls the network and some clinical systems across the campus. This resulted in the shutdown of the business system and infrastructure hosted within the TCH data centre.
Minister, what safeguards are in place at the Canberra Hospital to prevent someone from inadvertently pressing the main override power switch and why did these safeguards fail on Monday?
MS GALLAGHER: The Health Directorate will brief me once they have done a full review of the incident and when that is available I will update the Assembly. At the moment the information I have shared with you is all the information I have received to date. But, of course, this matter is being reviewed by the directorate and as more information becomes available, it will.
MR HANSON: Thank you, Chief Minister, and you may need to take this on notice as well. Has the data from the paper records been updated on the relevant clinical systems, has this process been checked and how reliable is that updating process?
MS GALLAGHER: They will be updated. I cannot tell you whether they have all been updated across all the systems. They will be updated and then they will go through the data verification process. I would also add that the director of data integrity—I think it has a slightly different title—has been appointed to the Health Directorate in the last month. That is a new position. It is separate from this issue, but in terms of data verification that position has been filled. If there are further changes that that person believes need to be done to ensure that data processes are all they need to be, they will be implemented.
MR DOSZPOT: Do Calvary hospital or other areas of ACT Health use the clinical systems that were closed down? If so, what impact did this have on clients of the relevant areas or staff?
MS GALLAGHER: Calvary does use similar systems. We are in a process of trying to align more of the IT systems across both hospitals. I am not advised that Calvary was implicated in any of the issues that occurred on the Canberra Hospital site, but I am awaiting a full briefing on it. I have been provided with some early information. I am not aware that Calvary was involved in terms of the shut-down of the system.
MR DOSZPOT: What other ACT government agencies rely on infrastructure hosted within the TCH data centre? What impact did the closedown have on the relevant agencies?