Activity in Acute Public Hospitals in Ireland, 2007 Annual Report

15/9/2009

Activity in Acute Public Hospitals in Ireland, 2007 Annual Report

Health Research and Information Division, ESRI This report presents information on discharges from Irish acute public hospitals participating in the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) scheme in 2007. The number of day and in-patient discharges, together with their geographical distribution and demographic characteristics are presented. The report also profiles the number and type of diagnoses and procedures reported for discharges and the case mix treated in acute public hospitals nationally. Some of the main findings of the 2007 report are:

• Close to 1.32 million discharges were reported by the participating hospitals compared to 1.24 million discharges in 2006.
• Over half of total discharges were day patients (54.6%); the remainder were in-patients (45.4%). Day patient discharges increased by 8.6 % and in-patient discharges increased by 2.7% between 2006 and 2007.
• These discharges used over 4.45 million bed days in 2007, an increase of 2.3% on the 2006 figure. Acute in-patients (length of stay ≤30 days) accounted for 44.2% of total discharges and 61.4% of total bed days. Extended stay in-patients (length of stay >30 days) accounted for 1.3% of total discharges and 22.5% of total bed days. Day patients accounted for 16.1% of total bed days.
• The average length of stay for acute in-patient discharges was 4.7 days. This varied by hospital type. Voluntary hospitals recorded an average length of stay of 6.1 days for acute in-patient discharges, compared to 4.7 days reported for regional hospitals and 4.3 days reported for county hospitals.
• 14.2% of total discharges were treated in special hospitals with the remainder treated in general hospitals.
• Close to 70% of total in-patient discharges were admitted as emergencies with the remainder admitted on a planned basis.
• For every 1,000 members of the population resident in the HSE West area, there were 334.6 total discharges. In contrast, in the HSE South area there were 284.2 total discharges for every 1,000 members of the population, which was the lowest for all the HSE health areas.
• Day patient activity peaked in October. Planned in-patient admissions peaked in July and emergency in-patient admissions peaked in January.
• There were differences in the daily patterns of admission and discharge activity. In-patient admissions were highest at the beginning of the week, while over one-fifth of all in-patient discharges occured on a Friday. Only 9.7 per cent of in-patients were discharged on a Saturday and 7.7 per cent of in-patients were discharged on a Sunday.
• Of all age groups, the 75 to 84 year age group had the highest discharge rate for in-patients (417.8 discharges per 1,000 members of the population in this age group compared to 137.8 per 1,000 members of the population for total in-patient discharges). Over one-fifth of in-patient (21.2%) bed days were used by discharges in this age group, even though they accounted for only 11.2% of total in-patient discharges.
• Medical card holders accounted for less than half (45.5%) of in-patient discharges. In-patient discharges with a medical card stayed an average of 8.2 days in hospital, which was on average 3.7 days longer than in-patient discharges without a medical card.
• Public discharges accounted for 74.4% of in-patient discharges and the remainder were private. The total in-patient average length of stay was slightly longer for public discharges (6.4 days) compared to private discharges (5.7 days). 82.4% of day patient discharges were public discharges. Public discharges increased by 7.7% while private decreased by 0.4% between 2006 and 2007
• 63% of total in-patient discharges underwent a principal procedure, with an average of 2.7 procedures performed on each discharge.

Notes for Editors: The Hospital In-Patient Enquiry Scheme is a computer-based health information system designed to collect clinical and administrative data on discharges from, and deaths in, acute hospitals in Ireland. The ESRI has been responsible for managing, and reporting on, the HIPE Scheme on behalf of the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive since 1990. In 2007, HIPE captured 98.8% of activity from public hospitals. The current and previous HIPE Annual Reports are available at: https://www.esri.ie/health_information/latest_hipe_nprs_reports

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