Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said there will be no security risks to a new app allowing healthcare staff access to patients’ medical histories. 

The app, which will give patients and healthcare staff access to medical information, is currently being trialled among “a few 100” maternity patients. 

When rolled out across the country, it will provide access to patients’ history including past diagnoses, allergies, medications and previous hospital scans. 

Mr Donnelly said the app should be rolled out by the end of 2025, followed by a digitisation of the Irish health service. 

Concerns have been raised, however, about the security of the app and the risk of data breaches. 

Some 473 legal cases have been taken against the HSE concerning the 2021 cyberattack that saw sensitive information about patients and staff leaked. 

The HSE also revealed in March this year that an IT “glitch” in December 2021 weakened security around the vaccination details of more than one million people. 

Donnelly defends app security

Mr Donnelly said there is no risk of security breaches in the new medical app, however. 

“A huge amount of work has been done since that data breach,” he told The Anton Savage Show. 

“That data breach was catastrophic in terms of the disruption, of the cost, so what we’ve been doing in the background, and the HSE has been working very hard, to put in place good resilient systems. 

“We know that there are systems like health care systems around the world that will be constantly attacked by these groups.” 

Mr Donnelly said we need to move to a healthcare service where patients can see their own records and healthcare providers can use that information. 

“If you’re brought in by ambulance to your local hospital, maybe you can’t talk or maybe you’re confused, [with the app] they can immediately see, ‘Right, we have you x-rays, we have your MRIs, we see the medication you’re on.” 

He said the trial period currently ongoing is a “modest first step” with a “limited record” of a patient’s medical history, such as medication and allergies. 

“The kinds of things that the paramedic who arrives or if you're brought is very useful for them to see,” he said. 

The Health Information Bill will be developed ahead of the app being rolled out nationwide to have a “central repository” of patient information. 

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