asked the Minister for Health if he will give the information upon which he based his statement of 20th June, 1962 that persons injured in accidents form only a small minority of those whose treatment in hospital is the responsibility of health authorities.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Hospital Treatment of Injured Persons.
13.
Mr. Ryan
As regards hospital in-patients the total number treated during 1960 in health authority hospitals was of the order of 170,000. These included about 40,000 surgical patients. As most accident cases would require surgical treatment they would be included in this figure of 40,000. This figure, of course, also includes the patients receiving surgical treatment for conditions which did not arise out of accidental injury. It is clear, therefore, that accident cases would represent a small proportion of the total of the 170,000 in-patients treated in the health authority hospitals in that year.
Information of this nature in relation to voluntary and private hospitals is not readily available but I am satisfied, in view of the experience in the health authority hospitals, that the proportion of cases admitted to these hospitals as in-patients for the treatment of injuries due to accidents is also small.