A technical issue has disrupted several hospital systems across the Waikato region, prompting Health New Zealand to implement manual processes while efforts are underway to restore normal operations.
According to a report by Stuff, the disruption has affected hospitals in Waikato, Thames, Te Kūiti, Tokoroa and Taumarunui after a network connectivity problem made some digital systems temporarily unavailable.
Stephanie Doe, Health NZ's group director of operations for Waikato, said hospitals were continuing to provide essential healthcare despite the outage.
“Where clinical systems are impacted, hospitals are reverting to manual processes to support continuity of care,” Doe said, Stuff has quoted.
She added that hospitals were focusing on urgent medical care while managing the disruption.
“Hospitals are prioritising urgent care. Patients who have not been contacted should attend their appointments as normal,” Stuff has quoted.
Health NZ said the issue was linked to an offsite data centre used to access several hospital systems. Technical teams are working with the service provider to restore connectivity as quickly as possible, as reported by Stuff.
The agency said any patients whose appointments or services are affected will be contacted directly, while others are advised to attend scheduled appointments unless informed otherwise.