Emergency condition fatalities show decade of decline

A study shows the number of fatalities from serious emergency conditions fell in the 13 years from 2002, the decline slowing considerably once the recession hit.

However, the study stresses it cannot attribute any slowing down in the case fatality ratio to the impact of the recession, but nor can it point to the reconfiguration of emergency department services in the same period as the reason for the general improvement, given some geographical variations.

The study, entitled Case fatality ratios for serious emergency conditions in the Republic of Ireland was published last week in the ‘BMC Health Services Research’ journal and examined figures for the years 2002 to 2014.