Northern Ireland health system "one step from chaos"

"Bodies would have been piling up" if the Covid vaccine had not been available, the director of intensive care at Belfast City Hospital has said.

Dr George Gardiner, a consultant, also said his biggest fear would be having to stop routine cancer surgery. He has called for an end to "tribal politics" in Northern Ireland to allow transformation of the health service, so that cancer and coronavirus can be tackled in tandem.

He said the system was currently "one step from chaos" and warned hospitals will not cope with winter if Covid numbers continue to rise.

"We need to get everyone who can take a vaccine to take it now before the winter pressures are on us," Dr Gardiner added.

"The cancer surgery that we are doing at the minute is life saving. A few more Covid admissions, which could be prevented, will cause us to stop operating because we simply haven't got the capacity to do both."

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Source: BBC News, 7 September 2021