Publication of Northern Ireland Hospital Inpatient Activity Data for 2008/09
Monday, 21 December 2009The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety today published the Northern Ireland Hospital Inpatient Activity Data for 2008/09. This is the first publication of this data and includes trend data from 2004/05.
The Hospital Inpatient Activity Data shows detailed information on the number of inpatient and day case admissions and presents a series of tables showing the reasons for admission and an analysis of procedures carried out in hospital.
Key facts and figures for Northern Ireland Inpatient Activity Data in 2008/09:
Number of Admissions
- In 2008/09 there were 583,703 admissions to Northern Ireland hospitals, compared with 521,127 in 2004/05, an increase of 12%.
- Of these 583,703 admissions to hospital, 181,496 (31.1%) where admitted for day case treatment.
- Over the last four years the number of day case admissions to hospital has risen from 152,171 (2004/05) to 181,496 (2008/09) which equates to an increase of 19.3%.
- Similarly over the same period the number of inpatient admissions has increased from 280,672 (2004/05) to 301,485 (2008/09) which represents a rise of 7.4%.
Primary Diagnosis
- In 2008/09 there were 33,158 admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of Influenza, Pneumonia etc. was recorded in the primary diagnostic position. This equates to an increase of 21.9% from 2004/05 when the number of admissions with a primary diagnosis of Influenza, Pneumonia etc. was recorded was 27,189.
- Over the same period there has been a rise of 9.1% (increasing to 57,305 in 2008/09 from 52,530 in 2004/05) in the number of admissions were the primary diagnosis recorded was a cancer or other neoplasm.
Main Procedures/Interventions
- There has been a significant rise in the number of finished consultant episodes where a heart procedure was the primary intervention.
- In 2004/05 there were 581 coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures carried out and this has increased by 14.1% in 2008/09 to 663.
- Over the same period the number of percutaneous translumminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) procedures carried out increased from 1,860 to 2,836 which equates to a 52.5% increase.
Notes to editors:
1. All published hospital inpatient activity data is available on line at the: DHSSPS website
2. About the data
- Inpatient and day case activity data for all acute Hospitals in Northern Ireland is collated monthly from each hospital’s Patient Administration System and is recorded in the Hospital Inpatient System (HIS). The HIS is a patient level dataset that includes information on the patient’s diagnosis and any procedures/interventions performed. This data is used to answer Assembly/Parliamentary questions, ad-hoc queries and for financial analysis.
- The Hospital Inpatient System does not hold information on patients attending hospital as outpatients or who attended an Accident and Emergency Department and were not admitted, nor does it hold details of patients admitted to Mental Health Hospitals. Also, the Hospital Inpatient System does not hold details of patients treated in the Primary Care setting.
3. Definitions
- Admission: The number of Deaths and Discharges are used as an approximation to count admissions. HIS records contain the admission date along with the method of admission (i.e. whether the patient was admitted from a waiting list, or as an emergency, or by another method). Also recorded is the source of admission (e.g. from normal place of residence, from a nursing home, or from another hospital).
- Day Case: An elective admission where the patient was treated during the course of a single day. Most day cases are episodes involving minor surgical procedures - the patient having been on a waiting list. HIS records contain a data item for patient classification, which enables day cases to be separately identified.
- Elective Admission: An admission from a waiting list (including booked admissions), or a planned admission. As planned admissions are those deferred for medical reasons, these are not included in waiting time analyses.
- Finished Consultant Episode (FCE): A period of continuous admitted patient treatment under the care of a consultant. If, during an admission, a patient is transferred from one consultant to another, a new Consultant Episode commences. An episode if considered to be finished if it ended before midnight on the last day of the HIS year (31st March). The HIS dataset for a particular year consists of all episodes which finished during the year, including those which began in previous years. Also stored are a much smaller number of records (approximately 2% of the total) for episodes, which began during the year, but were continuing at the end of the year. However, this latter group (the unfinished episodes) are normally excluded from analyses (for every unfinished episode there will, eventually, be a FCE recorded in a later data year).
- Primary Diagnosis: The condition established as the main reason for admission after all investigations, diagnostic examinations and procedures have been carried out.
Procedure/Intervention: an operation or series of operations aimed at restoring or improving the health of a patient, as by correcting a malformation, removing diseased parts, implanting new parts, etc.
4. This information was collated by Hospital Information Branch, DHSSPS.
Further information is available from:
Hospital Information Branch
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Annexe 2 Castle Buildings
Stormont
BT4 3SQ
Telephone: 028 9052 2000
Email: statistics@dhsspsni.gov.uk
Internet: http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/stats_research/stats-activity_stats-2.htm
5. Media queries to DHSSPS Press Office on 028 9052 0074, or out of hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
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