Exploring geographical variation in access to general surgery in Ireland: Evidence from a national study.

Background: Improving the equity of surgical services is an important objective of all clinical programmes both local and overseas. Variations in access to care threaten to dismantle the structural paradigm of any health service and such information can aid in promoting quality and access to surgical services. The aim of this study was to explore the geographical variation in the utilisation of common general surgical procedures in Ireland as a measure of the population's access to surgical interventions.

Elective ambulatory surgical care in Ireland-why it needs to be better coded, classified and managed.

Background: In the year to July 2017, surgical disciplines accounted for 73% of the total national inpatient and day case waiting list and, of these, day cases accounted for 72%. Their proper classification is therefore important so that patients can be managed and treated in the most suitable and efficient setting.

Aims: We set out to sub-classify the different elective surgical day cases treated in Irish public hospitals in order to assess their need to be managed as day cases and the consistency of practice between hospitals.

Characteristics of patients who are acutely admitted to hospital under surgical care and do not have a surgical procedure - Is there an alternative to admission?

Introduction: Previous work has shown that 56% of all acute surgical admissions in Ireland in 2012 did not have a formal surgical procedure. In light of the pressures on health systems internationally and the lack of relevant data on this topic in the literature, we examined the characteristics of this cohort of patients in Ireland.

Methods: Discharge data on acutely admitted patients who did not undergo a surgical procedure was extracted from the Hospital Inpatient Enquiry (HIPE) database for the year 2013.