Covid-19: No vaccine postcode lottery in NI, say doctors
By Lesley-Anne McKeown
Doctors have insisted there is no postcode lottery when it comes to rolling out the coronavirus vaccines.
Northern Ireland s vaccination plan means all those over 80 should receive their first dose by the end of January.
More than 154,000 doses of a vaccine have now been administered, health officials said.
Dr Frances O Hagan, deputy chairwoman of NI s GP committee, said practices had their own rollout plans but she expected them to meet official targets. As soon as we get the vaccine, we will get it to you, she told BBC News NI. But please, please wait until we contact you.
Covid-19: Nurses reissue call for safe staffing levels one year after strike
By Lesley-Anne McKeown
image copyrightPacemaker
More needs to be done to tackle safe staffing levels in Northern Ireland s health service, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
A year on from the nurses strike, the union has warned that problems caused by poor workforce planning and chronic underfunding have not been addressed.
Instead they have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, said the RCN.
The Department of Health said dealing with staff shortfalls was a key priority for the health minister.
Pat Cullen, the Northern Ireland director of the RCN, said very little has actually changed since about 15,000 healthcare workers took to the picket line in December last year for a series of protests over pay and safe staffing levels.