asked the Minister for Health if he will state in respect of each of the past ten years the total annual amount in constant money terms paid by the Exchequer directly or indirectly towards the cost of hospitals in Ireland (a) for capital purposes and (b) for current purposes; the total number of hospital beds available in the country; the rate of occupancy of these beds; the proportion of the total hospital costs represented by staff; the average male and female life expectancy; and the average length of stay in hospital by patients.
Written Answers. - Hospitals Statistics.
908.
The information requested is set out in the table below in respect of the ten years 1971-72 to 1980, being the latest ten years for which the full information sought is available. Expenditure figures are expressed in terms of 1971 constant prices. As no approved bed complement exists for psychiatric hospitals it is not possible to define an average rate of patient occupancy in the case of those hospitals.
It is not possible to quantify certain indirect Exchequer contributions to hospital costs, such as income tax relief on Voluntary Health Insurance premiums.
Life expectancy at birth is 68.8 years for males and 73.5 years for females. The figures are based on population information from the 1971 census of population and on mortality information from 1970, 1971 and 1972 and are the most recent figures available.
|
Hospital Costs at Constant 1971 Prices |
1971/ 1972 |
1972/ 1973 |
1973/ 1974 |
1974 (9 months) |
1975 |
1976 |
1977 |
1978 |
1979 |
1980 |
|
Exchequer contribution to hospital capital costs £m |
0.72 |
1.4 |
1.7 |
1.3 |
2.4 |
2.9 |
4.0 |
5.1 |
6.2 |
6.5 |
|
Exchequer contribution to hospital non-capital costs £m |
35.5 |
40.8 |
52.2 |
47.8 |
65.4 |
66.8 |
70.0 |
83.9 |
100.0 |
106.2 |
|
No. of general hospital beds available |
16,775 |
16,538 |
16,621 |
16,478 |
16,584 |
16,831 |
17,376 |
17,924 |
17,614 |
17,678 |
|
Rate of occupancy per cent for general hospital beds |
93.9 |
94.4 |
86.1 |
82.9 |
84.3 |
82.9 |
84.1 |
80.6 |
84.1 |
81.6 |
|
Staff costs as percentage of general hospital costs |
61.3 |
66.6 |
66.8 |
65.8 |
65.9 |
67.6 |
66.7 |
66.6 |
67.0 |
68.2 |
|
Average length of patient stay in general hospitals—Days |
14.6 |
13.9 |
12.4 |
11.3 |
11.4 |
10.8 |
10.9 |
10.3 |
10.4 |
9.7 |
|
No. of patients in public psychiatric hospital —31st December |
14,922 |
14,818 |
14,449 |
14,082 |
13,869 |
13,408 |
13,288 |
12,875 |
12,693 |
12,018 |
|
Staff costs as percentage of psychiatric hospital costs |
61.0 |
63.0 |
66.0 |
70.5 |
71.0 |
69.0 |
70.2 |
70.5 |
71.0 |
71.9 |
Notes
(a) Exchequer contribution includes direct contribution and indirect by way of agricultural grant in relief of local rates for years up to 1976.
(b) The hospitals to which the data in the table relate are health board general and psychiatric hospitals and public voluntary hospitals. Long-stay accommodation and private hospitals — general and psychiatric — are excluded.