PRIVATE/PUBLIC HEALTH SECTOR TAKE STRIDES IN ADDRESSING Y2K ISSUE

Issued by: Department of Health

Two conferences have been held since the meeting that was convened by the Private/Public Health Sector Steering Committee on 21 April 1999. The first conference was to prioritise equipment that must be Y2K ready at the turn of the century and the second conference was to start the process of contingency planning.

The prioritising exercise revealed startling results in that approximately 5% of various medical equipment types warranted investigation. The equipment was prioritised as follows:

• Is the equipment life supporting, diagnostic, therapeutic or surgical?
  
• What will the effect be on the patient, as a result of the failure of equipment?
  
• What type of error does the equipment show because of Y2K?
  
• How frequently is the equipment used?
  
• Are there alternatives to the equipment?
  
• Environmental factors
  

The focus of both sectors is to ensure that all the necessary equipment is Y2K compliant and contingency plans are in place. Both sectors are confident that Hospitals and Health Care Centres will be Y2K ready by 30 November 1999. The sharing of information between the public and private health sectors is playing a major role in addressing the Y2K issue.

24 June 1999