A hospital trust boss has expressed fears for the safety of staff and patients as she warned that Northern Ireland’s health system was besieged due to Covid-19. Cathy Jack, chief executive of the Belfast health trust, said the region was facing a “grim winter” if more people did not come forward for vaccination. The chief executive said ED crowding in mid-September was comparable to numbers usually only seen at the very peak of winter. “As a chief executive, I worry for the safety of our patients, service users and staff given the challenges ahead. “If Covid is allowed to spread freely in society, and the vaccination rate does not rise beyond 90%, we will face a grim winter ahead.”The health trust chief added: “The best thing that we can do to protect the health service is to vaccinate the remaining 12% of the adult population.

Source: Irish Examiner September 22, 2021 16:30 UTC