Emergency admissions to hospital, irrespective of condition.
The purpose of this indicator is to help monitor NHS success in prevention and treatment outside hospital. In 2014, NHS England set a target to reduce total emergency admissions by 3.5%, ‘as a clear indicator of the effectiveness of local health and care services in working better together to support people’s health and independence in the community’. Emergency admissions to hospital can be avoided if local systems are put in place firstly to identify those at risk prior to attendance and target primary care services, and secondly to identify those emergency department attendees better cared for outside of hospital and provide a safe route into more appropriate community care. The majority of patients admitted to hospital as an emergency are older people. In order to avoid perverse incentives that might keep older people out of hospital when it is legitimate for them to be admitted, the indicator is presented as a rate for patients of all ages. This indicator also acts as a proxy for the delivery of services for older people generally.
The next release date for this indicator is to be confirmed.
Legacy unique identifier: P02173