Global software glitch affects medical services in Himachal Pradesh; Lab tests, health reports on hold

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 21 (ANI): The global software glitch in Microsoft systems has impacted health services in Himachal Pradesh, causing significant disruptions, a senior state health official said.

"There have been reports of some software issues since yesterday (Friday), and these are temporary. I think we shall recover it, and it will be addressed in the health services. We are working on improving the health care system in the state as the Chief Minister wants to give the best health care to the people of the state," Sanjay Awasthi, Chief Parliamentary Secretary of the Health Department of the Himachal Pradesh government, said on Saturday.

"We have released the money for Himcare card holders for the pending dues so that people don't face any problems. Very soon we shall be starting the New OPD at Chamiyana at the Tertiary care center in Shimla," he said.

Patients and their attendants are also experiencing difficulties due to the software issues. Rakesh, an attendant with a patient, expressed his frustration.

"We are facing problems, our patients are not getting the reports. Doctors are asking for medical reports. They are saying that servers are down and we are facing problems. I don't know how long it will take." Rakesh said.

Medical professionals are taking steps to mitigate the impact.

Dr Subhash, Medical Superintendent at Kamla Nehru Hospital in Shimla, explained, "In the hospital, due to the global outage of Microsoft Systems, it has also created problems in hospitals here as well. We are facing these problems in the entry of the lab tests, but we are not facing any problems in labs, so we have told them to keep manual records. We are trying to resolve it, and we hope it will be addressed soon," he added.

Krsnaa Diagnostics, which provides pathological lab services in all government hospitals in Himachal Pradesh, has also been affected.