PRESS RELEASE 9 NOVEMBER 2022

PROFESSOR RORY DWYER, NOCA Clinical Lead for the Irish National ICU Audit and Audit Manager Mary Baggot revealed that Irish Intensive Care Units continued to provide safe care for patients during the height of the 2020 pandemic, with the launch of today’s Irish National ICU Audit. 

The report focuses on care received in Irish Intensive Care Units in 2020, which includes the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. It concluded that patient outcomes were within acceptable limits for all individual units audited, indicating acceptable quality of care while patients were in ICU. 

Speaking ahead of the launch Professor Rory Dwyer said: “This Report should reassure the public and the staff working in the Health Service that the most critically ill patients in each hospital will receive high quality care” 

KEY FACTS 

During 2020, The Irish National Intensive Care Unit Audit (INICUA) documented the care of 11,177 critically ill patients who had 11,793 admissions to ICU. 

The average length of stay for each ICU admission was 5.8 days and total bed days occupied were 68,400. 

They audited activity and outcomes in 25 Critical Care Units (Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and High Dependency Units (HDUs) across 21 hospitals in adult Health Service Executive- funded (HSE-funded, public) hospitals in 2020. This accounted for 92% of all ICU care in adult HSE-funded hospitals in 2020. 

There were 700 admissions of patients with COVID-19 which accounted for 5.9% of all ICU admissions in 2020 

Outcomes for patients in Irish ICUs were within the expected range, despite the challenges to care with the COVID pandemic. A range of quality indicators across all ICUs were almost universally within acceptable limits. Outcomes were similar to outcomes observed in UK Units, using identical metrics. Equivalence to this international reference standard provides reassurance about the quality of care in Irish ICUs. 

Seven hundred and three critically ill patients were transferred from one hospital to ICU in another hospital in 2020. This was an essential component in maintaining the quality of care provided to all critically ill patients.  

The report recommends the continuation of the ongoing HSE programme to expand ICU capacity in line with the Critical Care strategic plan, with approval from the Department of Health.  

Mary Baggot, Audit Manager added: This National Report on 2020 data offers the service users and staff assurance that Irish ICUs are a safe place to care for the sickest patients in the hospitals. 

Copies of the report are now available to download at Irish_National_ICU_report_2020