Length of hospital stay times vary for North and South Tipp – McGrath
Independent TD Mattie McGrath has said that statistics revealed to him on foot a Parliamentary Question to the Minister for Health Leo Varadkar reveal the stark differences in the average length of hospital stay time being experienced by patients in both parts of the county. Deputy McGrath was informed by the HSE Office of Planning and Performance that on average an inpatient in South Tipperary General Hospital could expect to be admitted for 4.34 days while an inpatient in Nenagh Hospital would be admitted for 7.19 days. The national average length of stay for 2014 which is the latest year that data is available for was 5.33 days:
“There are obvious concerns emerging around the quite significant differences in average length of stay for hospitals in both parts of the county.
From the data provided to me I can see that patients in Nenagh Hospital, for every year from 2010-2014 have experienced significantly above the national average stay time while patients at South Tipp General have consistently been in and out almost three days quicker.
This points not only to the heroic work being carried out by frontline staff in extremely onerous conditions but also to the unfairness that comes with living with a system of care apparently based on a geographical lottery,” concluded Deputy McGrath.
