Patients notified after personal data stolen in cyberattack on St Andrew's Hospital in Adelaide

Patients at one of Adelaide’s largest private hospitals are being notified after personal and health-related information was stolen in a cyber incident.

St Andrew’s Hospital confirmed it was contacting affected individuals after identifying those whose information had been compromised.

WATCH ABOVE: Major Adelaide hospital’s patients’ information stolen in alleged cyber attack

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The hospital said specialist forensic experts were engaged following the incident, which was reported to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

In a statement authorised by chief executive Angela McCabe, the hospital said affected patients would receive information the breach and support to help protect their personal information.

“Our investigation into the nature and extent of the incident has now progressed to the point where we can communicate directly with affected individuals, in line with our regulatory obligations,” the statement said.

7NEWS.com.au understands information downloaded in the cyberattack included patients’ full names, phone numbers, residential addresses, email addresses, dates of birth, Medicare card numbers and healthcare identifiers.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the state government expected to be kept informed as investigations continued, despite the hospital operating outside state government control.

“It being a private hospital, this is obviously outside of the state government’s jurisdiction, so to speak,” he said.

“That said, we expect to be updated on exactly what’s occurred here and whether or not things have occurred of a criminal nature that might be subject to the South Australian Criminal Code.”

Malinauskas said authorities would examine whether any state laws had been breached and flagged broader concerns cyber security threats facing organisations.

“The cyber security dynamic globally is clearly under challenge and under threat,” he said.

“It will be important that our law enforcement agencies assess the situation and see if there haven’t been any South Australian laws that have been broken.

“Certainly, I know the federal government will be making the same inquiries.”

The premier was also asked whether stronger legislative protections may be needed to ensure private hospitals adequately safeguard patient information.

The hospital said it was working with government agencies to implement additional measures to detect and prevent suspicious or fraudulent activity.

“This also includes working with relevant government agencies to apply additional protective measures, to help detect and prevent suspicious and fraudulent activity,” the statement said.

St Andrew’s apologised to affected patients.

“We sincerely apologise for any concern this incident has caused.”

The notification comes just days after St Andrew’s announced it would close its emergency department, with the hospital saying a review found the service was no longer financially sustainable.