National Audit of Hospital Mortality Annual Report 2021

The National Office of Clinical Audit (NOCA) launched the seventh report from the National Audit of Hospital Mortality (NAHM) on July 25th 2023. Analysis of the data for 2021 shows that crude mortality for AMI (Acute Myocardial Infarction) and both stroke conditions has declined over the last 10-years. However, heart failure mortality has risen in 2021 and the reasons why are not yet evident.

There are six key diagnoses: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia included in the 2021 report. These diagnoses were chosen because they have the highest burden on the health service, and its patients, and have the largest numbers of cases admitted to hospital nationally.

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Key Findings

Analysis of the data for 2021 shows that crude mortality for AMI (Acute Myocardial Infarction) and both stroke conditions has declined over the last 10-years. However, heart failure mortality has risen in 2021 and the reasons why are not yet evident. The crude mortality rate for COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and pneumonia, continue to rise and this rise can be directly linked to COVID-19. However the crude mortality rate for respiratory related conditions, pneumonia and COPD, decreased in late 2021 and early 2022 following the vaccination and booster rollouts, despite the high number of COVID-19 cases at that time, showing the impact of the vaccination programme.