Mortality rates for heart attacks are at best level for a decade

Mortality rates for heart attacks and strokes are the best we have seen in a decade, but our caesarean section rate is at a 10-year high, and the over 65s are shunning the flu vaccine.

This mixed picture of our health is outlined in the fourth annual report of the National Healthcare Quality Reporting System 2018, published yesterday.

The report, an exercise in data collection, with a view to driving improvements in the health sector, shows Ireland is faring well in some areas, for example: