Activity in Acute Public Hospitals in Ireland, 2008 Annual Report

25 May 2010

Activity in Acute Public Hospitals in Ireland, 2008 Annual Report

Health Research and Information Division, The Economic & Social Research Institute This report presents information on discharges from Irish acute public hospitals participating in the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) scheme in 2008. 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 2008 report are:

• Close to 1.37 million discharges were reported by the participating hospitals compared to 1.32 million discharges in 2007.
• Over half of total discharges were day patients (56.3%); the remainder were in-patients (43.7%). Day patient discharges increased by 7.3% and in-patient discharges decreased by 0.2% between 2007 and 2008.
• Total discharges used over 4.47 million bed days in 2008, an increase of 0.5% on the 2007 figure. Acute in-patients (length of stay ≤30 days) accounted for 42.5% of total discharges and 60% of total bed days. Extended stay in-patients (length of stay >30 days) accounted for 1.2% of total discharges and 22.8% of total bed days. Day patients accounted for 17.2% of total bed days.
• The average length of stay for acute in-patient discharges was 4.6 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 4.5 days reported for regional hospitals and 4.3 days reported for county hospitals.
• 12.8% of total discharges were treated in special hospitals with the remainder treated in general hospitals, where voluntary hospitals treated 30.5%, regional hospitals treated 26.0%, and county hospitals treated 30.6% of total discharges.
• Close to 70% of total in-patient discharges were admitted as emergencies with the remainder admitted on a planned basis.
• Day patient activity peaked in July. Planned in-patient admissions peaked in April 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 occurred 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 (406.8 discharges per 1,000 members of the population in this age group compared to 134.9 per 1,000 members of the population for total in-patient discharges). Over one-fifth (21.3%) of in-patient 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 (44.9%) of in-patient discharges. In-patient discharges with a medical card stayed an average of 8.1 days in hospital, which was on average 3.6 days longer than in-patient discharges without a medical card.
• Public discharges accounted for 74.9% 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 (5.6 days). 81.7% of day patient discharges were public discharges. Public and private discharges increased by 3.9% and 3.8% respectively between 2007 and 2008.
• 63.9% of total in-patient discharges underwent a principal procedure, with an average of 2.7 procedures performed on each discharge.

Note to Editors:

1. 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.

2. In 2008, HIPE captured 98.1% of activity from public hospitals.

3. The current and previous HIPE Annual Reports are available at: https://www.esri.ie/health_information/latest_hipe_nprs_reports

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