Doctors are not the only ones fighting viruses in the UK's
hospitals, as NHS Trusts roll out Sophos software
Hospitals are as embroiled in the use of IT as much as any public
sector industry, so protecting applications such as patient
databases is of paramount importance, writes
Marc
Ambasna-Jones.
Southern Derbyshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust's (SDAHT) decision to
invest in anti-virus protection was based on necessity, according
to the trust's technical services manager Martin Steedman. "The
SDAHT is a large acute trust and it is therefore vital that all
computers and high-tech equipment have the highest level of
protection available," he says. "We simply cannot risk virus
infection."
One of the trust's sites is the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, which
covers an area of 30 acres and is the sole accident-receiving
centre for South Derbyshire. The hospital's facilities include
surgical and medical services, trauma and orthopaedics, critical
care and support.
The SDAHT is the latest in a series of NHS trusts to sign-up for
anti-virus protection, joining Great Ormond Street Hospital, the
West Sussex Health Authority, the Royal Cornwall Hospital's Trust
and Birmingham Heartlands Hospitals in deploying Sophos Anti-Virus
software.
The SDAHT approached Sophos reseller Foursys to supply and support
Sophos Anti-Virus software for all of the trust's 2,500 computers.
With 1,288 new computer viruses detected in April alone, it is
vital that hospitals protect mission-critical applications and
systems from attack. Sophos currently protects against 63,180
viruses and it is constantly monitoring for new strains.
"Computer viruses can wipe hard discs, corrupt databases and bring
down e-mail servers," says Graham Cluley, senior technology
consultant for Sophos. "The NHS has demonstrated its awareness of
the threats posed by viruses protecting 100,000 of its computers
with Sophos Anti-Virus."
Viruses have become high profile with the arrival of the Love Bug
and Kournikova worms and with virus writers in some parts of the
world gaining national recognition for their dubious "achievements"
there is a greater need for virus protection.
According to Sophos and SDAHT there could be more trusts in the
offing looking to build a protective anti-virus shield around
sensitive patient data.
Project benefits
- Peace of mind that mission-critical systems will not be down
for days due to virus attack
Minimises risk of accidental virus infection via e-mail.
Smart project?
Do you know of an innovative public
sector IT project? E-mail cwxtra@rbi.co.uk.
Marc Ambasna-Jones