Number on trolleys ‘toxic combination’ with Covid threat

Cork University Hospital yesterday had the highest number of people waiting on trolleys of any hospital in the country with 50. Picture: Larry Cummins

A significant rise in the number of patients on trolleys in hospitals, allied to the ever-present threat of Covid-19 virus has been described as "a toxic combination."

A leading health expert says this had to be addressed by providing additional beds and “rebooting” 'Community Assessment Hubs' which were used in the early days of the pandemic as 'triaging centres' to deal with those presenting with respiratory problems.