Millennium bug fear at kidney unit

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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/000105/23/d4au.html Millennium bug fear at kidney unit

AN inquiry was under way yesterday after the millennium bug was linked to the failure of life-saving equipment at a Scottish hospital. Two kidney dialysis machines at Monklands District Hospital, in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, broke down at midnight on 31 December when an automatic cleansing mechanism failed to activate.

Investigations were launched immediately to find out whether the incident was one of the few to hit Scotland as a result of the millennium bug - the glitch linked to the inability of some computers to recognise the date 2000.

Utilities companies and public sector organisations have so far reported no major problems as a result of the bug, although the full effects in Scotland will not be known until today, when businesses return for the first day of work following the New Year holiday period.

The problem at Monklands Hospital followed extensive checks by staff last year on the ability of computer-operated equipment to cope with the arrival of 2000.

The fault was discovered by hospital technicians shortly after midnight on 1 January as they made scheduled checks designed to detect and deal swiftly with any problems with life-saving equipment. They found two of the renal unit's 20 dialysis machines had failed to start an automatic overnight self-disinfection process.

A spokesman for the Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which is responsible for Monklands, said the computer-controlled timing mechanisms which trigger the disinfection process had failed at midnight.

However, he said it was not clear yet whether the fault with the timing mechanisms was a result of the millennium bug, but investigations were continuing.

He added: "Had this not been detected and corrected, the two machines would not have completed their automatic disinfection cycle in preparation for the next morning's first patient, and could not, therefore, have been used until the cycle had been activated and completed.

"None of the machines was in use at the time and no patients were in the department. Patient safety was not, therefore, compromised. The problem was solved by resetting the timing mechanisms on the two machines, and there have been no further problems."

He said the computer timing device was now functioning properly on all the renal unit's dialysis machines, and the problem had not caused any delays in treatment.

The spokesman declined to identify the manufacturer of the machines, adding: "The trust believes that this is a commercial and in confidence matter, and that it would not be appropriate to name the manufacturer until we have consulted fully with them."

A spokesman for the Scottish executive said he was not aware of similar problems in other hospitals.

He said: "The executive has spent a lot of time and money preparing for the millennium bug and advising the public how to prepare. So far, we have had no major problems reported."

Fears that the bug would cause chaos and serious failures for both public utilities and private companies eased further yesterday, as millions of workers across the world returned to their desks for the first time since New Year festivities.

Although the arrival of 2000 had brought few problems anywhere, the re-opening of the international stock markets yesterday had been seen as the big test.

Relieved traders found everything normal, and stock prices in Asia and Europe soared along with confidence that computers had coped with the new era.

The London Stock Exchange - the last major international market to re-open in the new century - came back on line at 8am yesterday and reported no problems.

Experts have been criticised for over-hyping the millennium bug, and cynics have pointed out that computer consultants have made fortunes out of checking the electronic equipment of companies large and small.

However, the Government insisted that the #430 million of public money which it invested in tackling the bug, and the estimated #20 billion by private companies, had been money well spent.

Margaret Beckett, the minister charged with leading the task force to tackle the threat, insisted that the lack of problems was simply evidence that the world had prepared adequately for the bug.

She said: "I don't think any of us anticipated major disruption by the time we got to New Year's Eve, because so much work has been done and people have been so conscientious, but nobody was absolutely confident.

"We have come through that far better than we dared hope, and so, I think, we can be cautiously optimistic."

David Clementi, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, said it was too early to hail measures to beat the millennium bug as a complete success.

His continuing caution was echoed by Robin Guenier, the head of Taskforce 2000, the independent Y2K watchdog.

He said businesses should still be on their guard for databases and billing systems, which might not immediately be affected by the bug but which could encounter problems later.

He said: "We have a long way to go, the whole of 2000 into 2001, the potential possibilities, the possible knock-on effects, the possible consequences that are currently not known.

"It's really far too early to breathe a sigh of relief and say it's all done."



-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), January 14, 2000

Answers

Sorry if this was posted before...my eyes a buggy...long week 8-)

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), January 14, 2000.

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