This paper undertakes an exploratory examination of the factors that affect where patients receive treatment from Irish acute public hospitals, with particular regard to the influence of patients' public/private status. National univariate statistics indicate that private discharged patients are...

The public/private mix in Irish health care is nowhere more evident than in the acute hospital system where both public and private patients can be treated in public hospitals by the same consultant. By undertaking new analyses of data from the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry Scheme, this study...

The presence of pronounced inequalities in mortality and life expectancy across income, education and social groups is now well established. Research across a large number of developed and wealthy countries, including Ireland, has shown that those with fewer resources, less education or a lower...

There is extensive empirical evidence on the link between socio-economic status (SES) and child health outcomes. However, there is some international evidence that the SES gradient in child health is weaker for objective indicators of child health (e.g., anthropometric measures such as height)...

The empirical association between income inequality, population health and other social problems is now well established and the research literature suggests that the relationship is not artefactual. Debate is still ongoing as to the cause of this association. Wilkinson, Marmot and colleagues...

Equity of access to health care is a key component of national and international health policy. The Irish health-care system is unusual in requiring the majority of the population to pay the full cost of GP care at the point of use. In contrast, all Scottish residents are entitled to free GP...

Background: Deaths from circulatory respiratory causes among older age groups in Ireland fell sharply between 1995 and 2005 as did the seasonality of deaths from these causes.Objective:To examine whether a structural break has occurred in deaths from circulatory causes in Ireland between 1995...

This paper explores levels and trends in the prevalence of caesarean section delivery in Ireland between 1999 and 2006. Over this period the caesarean section rate in Ireland increased by almost one quarter. Using data from the Irish National Perinatal Reporting System we examine the...

A large literature has emerged around the strong association between income inequality and average life expectancy and a range of health outcomes including mental well being. Three possible explanations for the association have been offered: that the association is a statistical artefact; the...

Irish perinatal mortality rates have been falling steadily for a number of decades but evidence from the 1980s showed pronounced differentials in mortality rates across socio-economic groups. Between 1995 and 2007 Irish gross national product increased from 60 per cent of the EU average to 110...