Home > Activities of Irish psychiatric units and hospitals 2014.

Daly, Antoinette and Walsh, Dermot (2015) Activities of Irish psychiatric units and hospitals 2014. Dublin: Health Research Board.

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The Activities of Irish Psychiatric Units and Hospitals 2014 provides data for policy and planning of psychiatric services in Ireland. It includes information on national admissions, national discharges and deaths, HSE areas, Community Healthcare Organisations, hospital type, and child and adolescent admissions in Ireland during 2014.

The report shows that there has been a 16% decline in total admissions in the ten-year period from 2005–2014, from 21,253 in 2005 to 17,797 in 2014. The number of re-admissions has also shown a decline, dropping 23% from 15,336 in 2005 to 11,855 in 2014.

In accordance with the policy to close the older psychiatric hospitals, admissions to psychiatric hospitals/continuing care units continue to decrease. In the ten-year period from 2005-2014, admissions to psychiatric hospitals dropped by 53% from 6,814 in 2005 to 3,219 in 2014.

Summary figures from 2014:

  • There was an equal portion of male and female admissions.
  • Males accounted for a slightly higher proportion of first admissions at 55%.
  • The 45–54 year age group had the highest rate of admission, at 570.4 per 100,000 population.  This was followed by the 55-65 year ages group at 548.0, and the 20-24 year age group at 554.0 per 100,000 respectively.
  • The 18–19 year age group had the highest rate of first admissions, at 262.5 per 100,000.
  • Over half (57%) of all admissions were for single people.
  • Married persons accounted for 26% of all admissions, widowed accounted for 4%, divorced accounted for 4% also. 
  • While divorced people accounted for only 4% of all admissions, they had the highest rate of all admissions at 744.0 per 100,000.
  • As in previous years the unskilled occupational group had the highest rate of all (670.0 per 100,000) and first (181.6 per 100,000) admissions.
  • Forty-one percent of all admissions in 2014 were returned as unemployed.
  • There were 253 admissions with no fixed abode in 2014. 67% of these were male, 77% were single.

In terms of diagnosis:

  • The most common diagnosis recorded for all admissions was depressive disorders, accounting for 27% of all, 29% of first and 26% of re-admissions, and accounting for the highest rate of all (105.3) and first (37.4) admissions.
  • Schizophrenia accounted for 20% of all, 15% of first and 23% of re-admissions and had the second-highest rate of all admissions (77.2 per 100,000).

Involuntary admissions:

  • Involuntary admissions accounted for 11.6% of all and 13% of first admissions. There was a marginal increase in the proportion of involuntary first admissions, from 11% (10.9%) in 2012.
  • The rate of involuntary all admissions increased slightly from 44.4 per 100,000 in 2013 to 45.0 in 2014. The rate for first admissions increased from 15.7 per 100,000 in 2013 to 17.1 in 2014.
  • Nineteen percent of all admissions to psychiatric hospitals/continual care units and 13% of admissions to general hospital psychiatric units were involuntary, compared with 2% of admissions to independent/private and private charitable centres.

Discharges and deaths:

  • There were 17,643 discharges and 142 deaths in Irish psychiatric units and hospitals.
  • Males accounted for 62% of all deaths and 80% of those who died were aged 65 years and over.
  • Almost one-third (30%) of all discharges took place within one week of admission.
  • Ninety-four per cent of all discharges occurred within three months of admission. 18% of discharges occurred within two weeks, 19% occurred within two to four weeks, and 27% occurred within one to three months.
  • One third of all discharges from both general hospital psychiatric units and psychiatric hospital/continuing care units were discharged within one week of admission, compared with 14% of discharges from independent/private and private charitable centres.

Counties

  • Admission rates were highest for County Roscommon at 505.7 per 100,000, followed by Carlow, at 461.4, Donegal, at 453.0 and Westmeath at 450.3. Monaghan had the lowest rate of all admissions at 191.8 per 100,000.

Hospital Type

  • 58% of all admissions in 2014 were to general hospital psychiatric units, 24% were to independent/private and private charitable centres, and 18% were to psychiatric hospitals/continuing care units.
  • Re-admissions accounted for 69% of all admissions to psychiatric hospitals/continuing care units, 66% of admissions to general hospital psychiatric units and 66% also to independent/private and private charitable centres.
  • Admissions to independent/private and private charitable centres had an older age profile than either general hospital psychiatric units or psychiatric hospitals/continuing care units. 61% of admissions to independent/private and private charitable were 45 years and over, compared with 42% to general hospital psychiatric units and 47% to psychiatric hospitals/continuing care units.

Young people under 18 years of age/(child and adolescent services)

  • There were 436 admissions to all hospital types for under 18s in 2014, an increase of 19 since 2013 (415).
  • There were 343 admissions for under 18s to dedicated child and adolescent units.
  • There were 93 admissions to adult units and hospitals for under 18s. 53 were aged 17 years, 28 were aged 16 years, 8 were aged 15 years, 2 were aged 14 years and a further 2 were aged 13 years or younger.
  • Almost 67% of all and 65% of first admissions for under 18s were female. 
  • Females accounted for 68% of all admissions with a primary admission diagnosis of depressive disorders, 93% of admissions with eating disorders, and almost 62% of admissions with neuroses.
  • Males accounted for 78% of admissions with a primary admission diagnosis of other drug disorders
  • Almost 84% of under 18s admitted in 2014 were discharged in 2014. Of those admitted and discharged in 2014, 18% were discharged within one week of admission, 10% were discharged within one to two weeks, 11% were discharged within two to four weeks, 45% were discharged within one to three months and 16% were discharged within three months to one year.

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