Elisabeth-TweeSteden patients regain portal access

Computer problems at Dutch hospitals have disrupted patients’ access to their information. An ANP report carried by Nieuws.nl names Frisius MC in Leeuwarden and Amphia Hospital in Breda among the hospitals affected. [1]

Frisius MC said it had temporarily switched off some digital systems for IT security reasons, leaving patients unable to log in to its online patient portals. The hospital said it had not been hacked and that patient data had not been affected. Amphia described its problem as an ICT outage and said it was working on a safe solution. [1]

It remains unclear when access will be restored, whether the problems at the two hospitals are linked or whether patient care has been affected. [1]

Update

Patients at Elisabeth-TweeSteden (ETS) hospital in Tilburg and Waalwijk could log in to their online accounts again on Monday, 28 September. The hospital had closed its patient portal over the weekend as a precaution following what it called “signals from an external party”. ETS did not name the party. [2]

The hospital apologised, saying some patients may have been unable to read a message or prepare properly for an appointment during the closure. [2]

Several Dutch hospitals had closed patient portals as a precaution after cybersecurity centre Z-CERT warned of critical vulnerabilities in software used for remote access by staff and patients. Hospitals were advised to install security updates. [2]