A new national survey of patients' experiences in hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic has found that most patients did not feel they were at risk of catching the disease there.
Patients also said they were always able to understand staff when they were wearing face masks and visors. However, 12% of respondents said they could not find someone on the hospital staff to talk to if they had worries or fears about Covid-19.
Over 10,700 patients responded to the survey, which was done in September last year by the Health Information and Quality Authority, the HSE and the Department of Health.
The study was unique as it took place during a time of unprecedented disruption and restrictions on the provision of healthcare due to the pandemic and the cyber-attack on the HSE IT systems.