Covid-19 sees falls in number of babies assessed and in Emergency Department attendances

There was a 21.3% drop in new Emergency Department attendances to the end of June, at 507,140, and a 28.2% decrease in elective inpatient discharges year to the end of May. Emergency inpatient discharges were down 14.2% to the end of May. File Picture

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the rest of the health service is highlighted in a new HSE report which shows significant falls in presentations and attendance at Emergency Departments and a huge drop in the number of babies assessed at 10 months.

The figures, contained in the Health Service Executive's Performance Profile for the April to June period, shows there were 607,907 emergency presentations by the end of June - a fall of 18.9% against the corresponding period in 2019 and below expected activity of 776,763.