Covid patients made up almost a third of ICU bed occupants at height of pandemic 

Clinical lead of the Irish National ICU Audit Professor Rory Dwyer said the key findings 'underscore the areas where we need to direct our efforts for improvement'. Picture: Maxwells

Covid patients made up almost a third (29%) of all those in intensive care units across the country's hospitals in 2021, according to the latest audit report on ICU care..

The Irish National ICU Audit Annual Report also shows that 73 patients admitted into ICU with covid were pregnant or recently pregnant. It said they all “survived to leave hospital alive".

However, 603 patients died from covid before being discharged from an acute hospital – a mortality rate of 36%. That compares to a 24% mortality rate for the overall ICU population.

The report also highlights that risk-adjusted 28-day in-hospital mortality rates for covid patients in Ireland were 13% lower than those in the UK.

It also said that the risk-adjusted mortality rates were within an “acceptable range” in all ICUs and that outcomes were similar in both smaller and larger ICUs. Smaller ICUs serve less than 200 people annually.

This finding differed from that of an international experience which saw outcomes less favourable in smaller units compared to larger units which reflected on a consistent quality of care provided across Ireland.

However, there were only six critical care beds available per 100,000 of the population in 2021, with only 303 beds on average that were open in publicly funded hospitals.

Additionally, only 15 hospitals were able to meet the target of 80% of patients admitted to ICU within four hours of a decision to admit.

Meanwhile, the report also showed that only 50 out of 103 brain-dead patients were able to become organ donors in 2021. 

It said the biggest factor in these patients not becoming an organ donor was families not assenting to organ donation.

Clinical lead of the Irish National ICU Audit Professor Rory Dwyer said the key findings “underscore the areas where we need to direct our efforts for improvement". 

“These areas include addressing high bed occupancy rates, ensuring timely admission to ICU, optimising the inter-hospital patient transfer process, enhancing the quality of patient care, and optimising the use of scarce resources.

“The report provides many insights to guide the path towards a system which provides rapid access to high-quality intensive care for all those who need it,” Mr Dwyer added.