Day-patient discharges increased by 7.3 per cent and inpatient discharges decreased by 0.2 per cent between 2007-’08, according to the latest ESRI hospital activity figures.
The report — which presents information on discharges from acute public hospitals participating in the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry scheme (HIPE) in 2008 — reveals that close to 1.37 million discharges were reported in 2008 compared to 1.32 million discharges in 2007. Some 56.3 per cent of total discharges were day patients.
Total discharges used over 4.47 million bed days in 2008 — an increase of 0.5 per cent on the 2007 figure. Acute in-patients with a length of stay of 30 days accounted for 42.5 per cent of total discharges and 60 per cent of total bed days.
Extended-stay inpatients (length of stay greater than 30 days) accounted for just 1.2 per cent of total discharges, but 22.8 per cent of total bed days, while day patients accounted for 17.2 per cent of total bed days.
The average length of stay for acute inpatient discharges was 4.6 days. This varied by hospital type: voluntary hospitals recorded an average length of stay of 6.1 days for acute in-patient discharges, compared to 4.5 days for regional hospitals and 4.3 days reported for county hospitals.
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