Press release 24/07/2008

HOSPITAL STATISTICS 2006

Outpatient interventions were up by 7.5% in the hospitals of the A.C. of the Basque Country in 2006

Average expenditure per inhabitant on hospital healthcare came to €776, 8.4% up on the previous year

Hospital outpatient interventions increased by 7.5% in 2006, which meant that it was the care area that registered the greatest growth in the A.C. of the Basque Country, according to Eustat data. Out of the 2.3 outpatient interventions in hospitals, 97.1% were in acute hospitals (79.2% in public and 20.8% in private hospitals).

On the other hand, the increase in hospital surgical interventions should also be highlighted. The total number of surgical operations, which stood at 224,104, in hospitals throughout 2006 (62.6% in public and 37.4% in private hospitals) rose by 5.1% compared to the previous year. The 16.7% increase in the number of ambulatory surgical operations (day surgery hospital), as an alterative to hospitalisation, mainly explained this increase.

Graph 1: Evolution of surgical interventions in hospitals (1995-2006)

Source: Eustat

In 2006, the A.C. of the Basque Country had a network of 45 hospitals equipped with 8,049 beds, representing an average of 3.8 beds for every 1,000 inhabitants. 69.3% of the beds belonged to public hospitals and 30.7% to private ones. When broken down by type of care, 69.4% of the beds were in acute hospitals, 22.2% in psychiatric ones and 8.4% in medium and long-term hospitals.



The basic indicators encapsulating hospital activity in 2006 show a rise in the number of hospitalisations per 1,000 inhabitants (from 135.1 in 2005 to 137.2 in 2006), along with a drop in the average hospital stay (from 8.7 to 8.2 days). The average stay in acute hospitals fell from 5.9 days in 2005 to 5.6 day in 2006. The hospital emergency services treated 1,099,874 cases, which was a 2.3% increase on 2005, while the number of emergencies requiring the patient to be hospitalised (12.8%) fell with respect to the previous year (13.3% in 2005).

As far as maternity care was concerned, the number of deliveries increased by 1.2% compared to the previous year. Of a total of 20,233 births, 87.7% were carried out in private hospitals and 12.3% in private ones. Caesarean births, which represented 15.3% of the total number of deliveries, decreased by 7.7% as regards the previous year, and the number of multiple births increased by 12.4% (from 387 in 2005 to 435 in 2006).

Hospital healthcare saw expenditure of 1,651 million euros in 2006, meaning a 9.1% increase as regards 2005, which was higher than the figure of 7.8% registered by the economy of the A.C. of the Basque Country for the same period, in terms of GDP. Hospital healthcare activity represented 2.7% of Basque GDP in 2006 and average expenditure per inhabitant of €776, 8.4% more than the previous year. Of total expenditure, 1,590 million corresponded to current expenditure and 61 million to investment, with the latter being particularly noteworthy due to the 12.4% increase with respect to the previous year.

The hospital healthcare sector employed 20,797 people, 2% more than the previous year. Of these, 14,948 were women (71.9%) and 5,849 were men (28.1%). 75.7% of staff were healthcare personnel and the remaining 24.3% were non-healthcare. 88% of hospital personnel worked in acute hospitals, 7.6% in psychiatric hospitals and 4.4% in medium and long-stay hospitals.



Table 1.- Evolution of the main figures in the hospitals of the Basque Country

Source: Eustat

For further information:

Euskal Estatistika-Erakundea / Basque Statistics Office C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Tlf:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.es Contact: Maite Ugarte Tlf:+34-945-01 75 47 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 Online press releases: www.eustat.es Databank: www.eustat.eus/bancopx/english/indice.aspx