Written answers

Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Photo of David CullinaneDavid Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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803. To ask the Minister for Health the number of PET scans in public hospitals broken down by location; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32070/25]

Photo of Jennifer Carroll MacNeillJennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Photo of David CullinaneDavid Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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804. To ask the Minister for Health to outline all scopes carried out in public hospitals from 2010 to date, broken down by year, scope type, location and whether they were carried out on a weekday that is, Monday to Friday or weekend; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32071/25]

Photo of Jennifer Carroll MacNeillJennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The data requested by the Deputy is contained in the attached Excel file.

In relation to the data provided, please note:

  • Data is sourced from the Hospital Inpatient Enquiry (HIPE) dataset, managed by the HSE’s Healthcare Pricing Office, which records all inpatient and daycase discharges from public hospitals.
  • The data has been extracted by the Department of Health from the final closed annual HIPE data extract received by the Department. Data may differ from similar data published elsewhere based on differing exclusions, inclusions etc.
  • Data covers the years 2010 to 2024 and relates to discharges in each year.
  • Data covers all acute public hospitals which report data to HIPE, a small number of non-acute hospitals report to HIPE for historic reasons, these have been excluded.
  • Data includes both inpatient and daycase discharges.
  • To maintain confidentiality, statistical disclosure control has been applied. Any cells with values of 1-4 have been suppressed. Where required, secondary suppression has also been applied to avoid indirect disclosure.
  • Identification of discharges with a scope is based on the Australian Refined - Diagnosis Related Groups (AR-DRGs). The DRG scheme enables the disaggregation of patients into homogeneous groups, which are expected to undergo similar treatment processes and incur similar levels of resource use. For the years 2010-2015 data is based on AR-DRG Grouper version 6.0, for the years 2016-2024 it is based on AR-DRG Grouper version 8.0.
  • The data includes all inpatient and daycase discharges assigned to AR-DRG G46 (Complex Endoscopy), G47 (Gastroscopy) or G48 (Colonoscopy). This is in line with KPI A132 (Level of GI Scope Activity) included in the HSE’s National Service Plan. However, it should be noted that KPI A132 only includes daycase discharges, while both daycase and inpatient discharges are included in the data provided here.
  • The vast majority of these discharges are daycases. In 2024, 92.3% of all discharges in AR-DRGs G46, G47 or G48 were daycase discharges. When same day inpatient discharges are also included, they account for 92.7% of all discharges. The share of daycase / same day inpatient discharges has increased from 86.6% of all scope discharges in 2010.
  • The day of the week refers to the day of discharge. For daycase discharges and same day inpatients (93% of the total in 2024), the assumption is that the scope took place on the same day as the day of discharge. For overnight inpatients (7% of total in 2024) the day refers to the day of discharge which may or may not be the day the scope was carried out.
  • The percentage of all daycase and same day inpatient discharges only (excluding overnight inpatients) within AR-DRGs G46, G47 or G48 which occurred during a weekend (Saturday or Sunday) in each year is as follows:
    • 2010: 0.5%.
    • 2011: 1.3%.
    • 2012: 0.9%.
    • 2013: 0.8%.
    • 2014: 0.6%.
    • 2015: 0.8%.
    • 2016: 0.8%.
    • 2017: 0.8%.
    • 2018: 1.1%.
    • 2019: 1.8%.
    • 2020: 1.5%.
    • 2021: 3.1%.
    • 2022: 6.6%.
    • 2023: 8.4%.
    • 2024: 11.5%.

Photo of David CullinaneDavid Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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805. To ask the Minister for Health the number of elective only hospitals planned, the location for each, the most recent estimated cost of each, the stage each plan is at; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32072/25]

Photo of Jennifer Carroll MacNeillJennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I have asked the HSE, as Sponsoring Agency with day-to-day responsibility for the Elective Hospitals Programme to respond to you directly in relation to the matters raised.

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