Andrew Boylan
Question:47 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason bed costs in hospitals have spiralled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19338/01]
Written Answers. - Hospital Charges.
Bed day costs, as identified in the national casemix programme of the Department of Health and Children, which collects costs in relation to the cost of treating patients in acute hospitals, involves much more than the actual "hotel" cost of maintaining patients in hospital. Bed day costs include both the care cost and the full treatment cost associated with individual patient care.
Costs in acute hospitals are subject to both ordinary inflation, including new legislation in areas such as health and safety, and medical inflation generally, both of which impinge on bed day costs. Medical inflation includes the cost of new drugs, better treatments and new technology. It is accepted that new technology will increase health budgets, even while delivering existing service levels. Medical technology is improving the diagnosis and treatment of illness, and this results in greater patient outcomes, but has cost implications. Increased staffing numbers, necessary for the provision of enhanced patient care, have also contributed to the increase in costs. The changing age profile of the population is also a factor. Modern health care helps people to live longer, but the cost of treating the elderly is significantly higher.
However, bed day cost on its own is not a meaningful measure of hospital performance. Modern medical practice is increasingly intensive with patients spending less time in hospital and receiving an increasingly more complex, and costly, range of treatments.
Overall, all the indications are that the Irish health service performs well in international comparison.