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Hospital admissions report published

A report providing details of all hospital inpatient, day case and adult critical care episodes in England for the 2016/17 financial year was published yesterday by NHS Digital1.

Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity provides total numbers for all Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs)2 and Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs)3.

These figures should not be referred to as a count of people or patients, as the same person could have been admitted on multiple occasions.

The report uses data from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)4, a valuable national data asset used for purposes such as health service planning. Each record in HES includes key information including details of the patient (age, gender, geographic details), when they were treated and what they were treated for. All published figures are aggregate and anonymised.

This data is useful for the NHS frontline in understanding demand and planning for things like winter preparedness.

This National Statistics publication releases some high level analyses of HES data relating to hospital admissions in NHS hospitals in England, or performed in the independent sector and commissioned by the English NHS. The richness of HES data allows a wide spectrum of additional, more detailed analysis to be conducted, for example drilling down into:

  • Specific causes of admission
  • Specific disease groups
  • Procedures carried out
  • Patient groups
  • Regional or organisational
  • Changes and trends over time (APC data has been collected since 1989)

The report is available at: http://digital.nhs.uk/pubs/apc1617

Notes to editors

  1. NHS Digital is the national information and technology provider for the health and care system.  Our team of information analysis, technology and project management experts create, deliver and manage the crucial digital systems, services, products and standards upon which health and care professionals depend. Our vision is to harness the power of information and technology to make health and care better. NHS Digital is the new trading name for the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). We provide 'Information and Technology for better health and care'. Find out more about our role and remit at www.digital.nhs.uk.
  2. Finished consultant episode (FCE)     
    A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.
  3. Finished admission episodes (FAE)    
    A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
  4. Hospital Episode Statistics are compiled from data sent by more than 200 NHS trusts in England and approximately 240 independent providers for activity commissioned by the NHS.  The figures provided in this report refer to recorded admissions, and are reliant on a complete and accurate recording of the cause of the hospital admission and the demographic details of the patient.

 

Channel website: https://digital.nhs.uk

Original article link: https://digital.nhs.uk/article/7769/Hospital-admissions-report-published

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