Activity data in private hospitals is not collected or verified by the Department of Health and Children or by the HSE. In relation to public acute hospital activity I set out in tabular format the information sought by the Deputy.
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009***
|
ED Attendances
|
1,249,659
|
1,245,001
|
1,296,091
|
1,150,674
|
1,119,719
|
Outpatient Attendances
|
2,453,000
|
2,796,331
|
3,087,448
|
3,298,494*
|
3,320,729
|
In-Patient Discharges
|
564,844
|
582,800
|
598,776
|
594,824
|
593,359
|
Day Case Discharges**
|
443,657
|
662,092
|
718,851
|
770,265
|
674,949
|
*Provisional figure for 2008.
**From 2006 the HIPE system includes data on day case patients admitted for dialysis in dedicated dialysis units.
***The data for 2009 is provisional and has yet to be validated.
Information on the costs associated with these activity headings is not available within my Department. I therefore regret that due to industrial action in the Health Service Executive I am not in a position to provide a substantive response on this issue.
In relation to any comparison between the costs of public and private hospitals as regards costs or claims, it should be noted that I do not have any role in relation to the day-to-day operation of private hospitals and private health insurers. The negotiation of fees between private hospitals and health insurance providers is a commercial matter for the parties themselves. However, the Health Insurance Authority has provided some information for the health insurance market as a whole which relates to all private health insurance business, not just hospital costs.
In 1998, claims incurred per insured person in VHI (which constituted almost the entire market at the time), was €287. In 2008, (the latest year for which the Financial Regulator has published data), the incurred claims per insured person in the market was €624. This equates to an annualised increase over the 10 year period of 8.1% per annum.