Expert warns over neglect of respiratory services

IRISH people are almost three times more likely to die from pneumonia than other Europeans.

And a leading medical expert has warned that patients with chronic respiratory problems could be dying unnecessarily here.

New figures on the causes of death across Europe highlights how the Irish death rate from pneumonia is far in excess of most other EU nations.

A total of 42.3 out of every 100,000 Irish people die from pneumonia compared to the EU average of just 16 per 100,000 inhabitants. The UK is the only other country where fatality rates from pneumonia are over twice the EU average.

The findings have led Professor Luke Clancy, a consultant in respiratory medicine at St James’s Hospital, to claim that patients with chronic respiratory illnesses in Ireland are getting a “raw deal”.

Professor Clancy blamed the closure of a 30-bed, specialist unit to treat TB and other respiratory diseases at Peamount Hospital, Dublin in 2004 for keeping Irish fatality rates from pneumonia well above the EU average.

“Peamount had 1,000 acute admissions per year for this unit before it closed down. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people don’t get into hospital any more under the new system as they are competing in A&Es for beds,” said Prof Clancy.

A study of admissions at St James’s Hospital several years ago, showed that people with serious respiratory problems were classified as a low priority compared to other types of patients, he said.

Prof Clancy warned that young and old as well as smokers and patients suffering from flu were particularly vulnerable to pneumonia.

“It has a mortality rate even though there are good treatments. But if such treatments are delayed, it increases the likelihood that people may die from pneumonia,” said Prof Clancy.

He claimed the health authorities had been neglectful in the provision of services for respiratory illnesses for many years.

The figures on pneumonia are contained in the latest yearbook published by the EU statistical office, Eurostat, using data on Irish death rates provided by the Central Statistics Office.

The statistics relate to deaths in 2004 — the latest year for which figures for international comparisons are available.

A CSO spokesperson said a new system of classification was being introduced later this year, which could affect the data on pneumonia fatalities.

“It is likely that such deaths will in future be ascribed to the underlying cause,” he said.

However, the CSO acknowledged that Ireland was still likely to have the highest death rates from pneumonia in the EU even after the reclassification.

The Eurostat figures also show that a disproportionate number of Irish people die from illnesses linked to drug dependence.

The figures show the deaths of 2.2 people per 100,000 in Ireland are due to drug dependence — more than three times the EU average of 0.7.

Despite high levels of alcohol consumption in the Republic, Irish death rates from chronic liver disease and alcohol abuse are half the EU average.

Homicide rates in Ireland are also half the EU average at 0.6 per 100,000 in habitants, while deaths from cancer, heart disease and suicide are close to general European levels.