According to recent reports, the number of hospital admissions for heart and vascular diseases in the Netherlands rose by 3 percent in 2021 compared to 2020. However, these admissions are still 6 percent lower than the figures recorded in 2019.
Over the years, there has been a slight decline in acute clinical admissions and non-acute clinical admissions for heart and vascular diseases. On the other hand, there has been a slight increase in day admissions. The trend for acute admissions, including those for strokes and heart attacks, followed a similar pattern in 2020 and 2021 as in previous years, suggesting that acute care for heart and vascular diseases remained consistent during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of non-acute clinical admissions decreased more significantly in 2020 compared to previous years, but showed a slight increase in 2021. Day admissions also experienced a decline in 2020 after previous increases but showed a slight increase in 2021.
Apart from certain diagnostic groups such as new formations, most diagnostic groups saw fewer hospital admissions in 2021 compared to 2019, which marked the pre-pandemic period. However, admissions related to pregnancy, childbirth, and postnatal care, as well as conditions around birth, witnessed an increase in 2021. Moreover, the number of children born also showed an increase during this period.
While some diagnostic groups, including heart and vascular diseases and digestive system diseases, saw a slight increase in admissions in 2021 compared to 2020, this was not the case for all groups. In 2020, there was a significant decrease (34 percent) in admissions for respiratory diseases (excluding COVID-19) and ear diseases. The number of admissions for these diseases did not increase in 2021 and remained much lower than in 2019. For respiratory diseases, there were fewer day admissions for asthma, and the number of acute admissions for COPD and pneumonia also declined. This is partly attributed to the categorization of primary diagnoses when a COVID-19 infection is present. Patients with both COPD or pneumonia and COVID-19 are classified under the primary diagnosis group of COVID-19.