Castlebar based Independent Cllr Michael Kilcoyne who is also a member of the HSE's Regional Health Forum, put forward the following question to the forum before their monthly meeting this week. "According to available figures 155 Covid 19 deaths have taken place in Mayo. How many of those people died in Mayo University Hospital and how many of those people tested negative when admitted to the hospital and subsequently contracted the virus in the hospital?
"Is there any known reason why the rate of deaths per 100,000 people in Mayo is 118.8 and is the second highest in the country after Cavan? If there were better facilities available at Mayo University Hospital e.g. additional accommodation and additional staff could the death rate have been lower?"
Responding to Cllr Kilcoyne by way of a written response Tony Canavan, CEO, Saolta University Health Care Group said: "The determination of the cause of death of any individual person is complex. While Covid-19 is clearly the principal cause of death for some people, in other people who were already very seriously ill the contribution of the Covid- 19 infection to their death can be difficult to determine.
"It is known that certain factors increase peoples risk of severe illness and death from Covid-19, including age over 65 and comorbidities. In the Census of 2016 the population of Mayo was noted to have the highest average age in the country. Having a larger proportion of older age groups, as well as a high overall cumulate rate per 100,000 populations could explain why Mayo’s death rate per 100,000 population is one of the highest in the country
"The CSO publishes data on people who have died due to Covid-19 or have been diagnosed with the virus. The most recent published report (up to and including Friday 05 March ) is available here: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/br/b-cdc/covid-19deathsandcasesseries26//
"In addition, the HPSC publishes daily 14-day epidemiology reports which include the most recent information on cases and the number of deaths at a national level: https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/surveillance/covid-1914- dayepidemiologyreports/
"The National HSE Capital Plan has highlighted the requirement for investment in service continuity and additional capacity projects including additional acute hospital beds, additional critical care capacity and intermediate care or step down capacity. It has been the experience in Mayo University hospital as with the other hospitals in the Saolta Group that multi bed inpatient accommodation has created and continues to create significant challenges in managing the delivery of patient care in the current Covid environment."
