Cork University Hospital has been hit hard by the HSE cyberattack.

Cork University Hospital has firmly warned people to avoid CUH unless absolutely necessary, as the hospital struggles to cope with damage caused by the HSE cyberattack last month.

CDr Conor Deasy, Emergency Medical Consultant at Cork University Hospital, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Friday that “if we were an airline, we would be grounded.” Deasy described the problems caused as “far more challenging than Covid, which hasn’t gone away either.”

Some patients are waiting as many as 12 hours to see a doctor due as staff use manual systems to process them. “The impact on our ability to provide safe care in any sort of a timely way is really compromised,” Deasy admitted.

Members of the public with “non-urgent” medical concerns are being urged to instead attend a GP out of hours service, a local injury unit or a local pharmacist.

Deasy also said that demand for healthcare services has increased, in part due to concerned citizens who wish to have their post-vaccine symptoms examined. Deasy clarified that he has yet to see anyone hospitalised in relation to the vaccine, and that the vaccine is “safe and far safer than enduring Covid.”