Vol. 576 No. 1
221 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the total number of in-patient procedures in Irish hospitals in each of the years 1998-2003; the total number of day care places; and the total in-patient and day work capacity during these years. [28835/03]
The information requested by the Deputy is provided in the following table. The table sets out the numbers of beds available and patients treated for both in-patients and day cases for the period 1998-2003 inclusive. Also included are figures for the numbers of in-patient procedures carried out annually in publicly-funded acute hospitals. The latter figures are derived from the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry, HIPE, which captures diagnostic and procedure data on each discharge from hospital. Procedures include surgical interventions as well as other investigative and therapeutic procedures. A proportion of the very significant increase in numbers of procedures carried out is likely to be due to improved reporting. HIPE provided for the recording of up to four separate procedures per hospital stay up until the end of 2001. This has now been extended to allow for reporting of up to ten procedures. Data for the current year are not yet complete.
Publicly Funded Acute Hospitals:
Beds Available, In-patients Discharged, Day Cases and In-patient Procedures 1998 to 2003
|
Year |
Average Number of In-patient Beds Available |
Average Number of Day Beds Available |
Number ofIn-patientsDischarged/Deaths |
Number of Day Cases |
Number ofIn-patientProcedures |
|
1998 |
11,788 |
636 |
537,841 |
263,767 |
555,995 |
|
1999 |
11,781 |
673 |
531,456 |
289,625 |
682,389 |
|
2000 |
11,891 |
721 |
551,834 |
318,363 |
817,528 |
|
2001 |
12,004 |
771 |
561,251 |
357,676 |
1,009,856 |
|
2002 |
12,196 |
783 |
557,751 |
403,170 |
1,276,186 |
|
January to September 2003 |
12,279 |
902 |
423,448 |
326,866 |
N.A. |
