These indicators are designed to accompany the SHMI publication.
As well as information on the main condition the patient is in hospital for (the primary diagnosis), the SHMI data contain up to 19 secondary diagnosis codes for other conditions the patient is suffering from. This information is used to calculate the expected number of deaths.
'Depth of coding' is defined as the number of secondary diagnosis codes for each record in the data. A higher mean depth of coding may indicate a higher proportion of patients with multiple conditions and/or comorbidities, but may also be due to differences in coding practices between trusts.
Contextual indicators on the mean depth of coding for elective and non-elective admissions are produced to support the interpretation of the SHMI.
Notes:
1. There is a shortfall in the number of records for The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (trust code RXW), and Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (trust code RBL). Values for these trusts are based on incomplete data and should therefore be interpreted with caution.
2. There is a high percentage of invalid diagnosis codes for Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (trust code RFS), East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (trust code RXR), Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (trust code RN3), Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (trust code RCD), Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (trust code RD8), Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (trust code RHU), Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (trust code RD1), University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (trust code RRK), University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (trust code RJE), and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (trust code RK9). Values for these trusts should therefore be interpreted with caution.
3. A number of trusts are now submitting Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) data to the Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) rather than the Admitted Patient Care (APC) dataset. The SHMI is calculated using APC data. Removal of SDEC activity from the APC data may impact a trust’s SHMI value and may increase it. More information about this is available in the Background Quality Report.
4. Further information on data quality can be found in the SHMI background quality report, which can be downloaded from the 'Resources' section of this page.