Ireland has significantly fewer acute hospital beds than most other OECD countries, according to a new report published today.
The report from the OECD states that Ireland has 2.7 acute beds per 1,000 of the population compared to the OECD average of 3.8 per 1,000 of the population.
The highest numbers of acute hospital beds, according to the report, are in Japan which has 8.2 per 1,000 of the population.
The report Health at a Glance 2009also notes that acute hospital bed occupancy rates in Ireland are third highest in the OECD region. Bed occupancy rates were 87 per cent in Ireland in 2007 compared to 64 per cent in the Netherlands. High bed occupancy rates can be associated with increased rates of hospital acquired infection.
The publication also looks at a range of other issues across the OECD including health spending and five year cancer survival rates.
It says health expenditure as a percentage of GDP in Ireland is lower than the OECD average at 7.6 per cent. The OECD average is 8.9 per cent.
The only countries with lower levels of health spending as a percentage of GDP than Ireland were Hungary, Luxembourg, Korea, Czech Republic, Poland, Mexico and Turkey.
The five-year relative survival rates in Ireland for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers for the period 2002-2007 are also below the OECD average.
The Department of Health said the figures related to a period before the implementation of the national cancer control programme.
Furthermore in relation to hospital bed numbers, it said the figures in the report did not include private hospital beds in Ireland.
"The number of acute beds per 1,000 population should not be considered in isolation from the average length of stay and the capacity for day case treatment. The OECD notes that in 2007 the average length of stay in an acute bed in Ireland was 5.9 days, below the OECD average of 6.5 days," it added.
In relation to health spending the Department of Health said if health expenditure in Ireland was calculated as a percentage of gross national income (GNI), which does not include exported profits, our expenditure figure rises to 8.9 per cent "which puts Ireland on line with the OECD average".
But it acknowledged the report "is a valuable and reliable source of internationally comparable data on health and health systems up to and including 2007".
