An Accredited Official Statistics Publication
Published by: Information & Analysis
Directorate, Department of Health
Statisticians: Stephanie Anderson, Megan Crilly, Elaine
Malcolmson & Liz Graham
Reporting Period: 1 April 2023 – 31 March 2024
Publication Date: 1 August 2024
Date of Next Publication: 7 August 2025
Coverage: Northern Ireland
Frequency: Annual
Contact: statistics@health-ni.gov.uk
This publication presents information on inpatient and day case activity at four of the five Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland during the year ending 31 March 2024. It details information on Available Beds, Occupied Beds, Occupancy Rates, Average Length of Stay, Theatre Activity and Hospital Births. Data are presented by HSC Trust, Hospital, Programme of Care and Specialty as appropriate. Data detailed in this publication are also available in spreadsheet format (Microsoft Excel) to aid secondary analysis, at the link: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/hospital-statistics-inpatient-and-day-case-activity-202324.
On 9th November 2023, the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (HSCT) launched ‘encompass’ - a new electronic patient record system. Its rollout across the other Trusts will follow on a phased basis throughout 2024/25.
Inpatient and day case activity data for consultant-led episodes completed on or after 9th November 2023 in South Eastern HSCT are still being developed following the Trust’s transition to completely digitised health records. Therefore, South Eastern HSCT data has not been included in any analysis, except for Hospital Births and Theatre Use, within this report to allow for comparisons to be made for the four remaining HSCTs.
As such, all Northern Ireland level figures throughout this report, except for within the Hospital Births and Theatre Use sections, only include data for Belfast, Northern, Southern and Western HSCTs.
Figures provided for South Eastern HSCT births and theatres, sourced from Encompass, are considered to be “official statistics in development.”
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, except for the Hospital Births and Theatre Cases statistics, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme.
| Type | 2023-2024 | Difference From Last Year | Percentage Change From Last Year | Difference From 5 Years Ago | Percentage Change From 5 Years Ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inpatients | 213,482.0 | 3366 | 1.6% | -29666 | -12.2% |
| Day Cases | 246,078.0 | 10329 | 4.4% | -4732 | -1.9% |
| Total Admissions | 459,560.0 | 13695 | 3.1% | -34398 | -7.0% |
| Independent Sector Admissions | 15,022.0 | -4026 | -21.1% | 10905 | 264.9% |
| Average Available Beds | 5,198.1 | 107.3 | 2.1% | 367.8 | 7.6% |
| Average Occupied Beds | 4,282.7 | 154.1 | 3.7% | 280.2 | 7.0% |
| Average Length of Stay (days) | 7.3 | 0.1 | 1.4% | 1.3 | 21.7% |
| Theatre Cases | 105,922.0 | 7772 | 7.9% | -4683 | -4.2% |
| Hospital Births | 19,826.0 | -529 | -2.6% | -2689 | -11.9% |
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, except for the Hospital Births and Theatre Use statistics, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme.
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme. Data for Northern Ireland Cancer Centre have not been validated, and users should therefore treat these with caution.
During 2023/24 there was a total of 459,560 admissions to hospitals in Northern Ireland.
This was an increase of 13,695 (3.1%) from 445,865 in 2022/23. Over half (53.5%, 246,078) were day case admissions while the remaining 46.5%, (213,482) were inpatient admissions.
There was a decrease of 34,398 ( 7%) on the number admitted in 2019/20 (493,958).
Figure 1 (above): line chart illustrating the number of admissions for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
During 2023/24 admissions increased only within acute services. There were fewer admissions in all programmes of care in 2023/24 compared with 2019/20.
Figure 2 (above): bar charts illustrating the number of admissions by programme of care for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
As shown in Figure 3a, Belfast HSC Trust had the highest number of admissions during 2023/24, accounting for 38.9% (178,584) of the total admissions. This was followed by 21.3% (97,738) in Western HSC Trust, 20.3% (93,435) in Northern HSC Trust, and 19.5% (89,803) in Southern HSC Trust. For Trust trends over time please see Figure 3b on the second chart tab.
Figure 3a (above): bar chart illustrating the number of admissions in each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
Figure 3b (above): stacked bar chart illustrating the number of inpatient and day case admissions for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024 for Northern Ireland (excluding South Eastern HSCT). Chart can also be filtered by HSC Trust.
Data users should be aware that not all inpatient services are provided at each of the HSC Trusts in Northern Ireland. In some circumstances patients from one HSC Trust area will be admitted to another HSC Trust. It is therefore not possible to accurately calculate the number of inpatient admissions per head of the population in any HSC Trust area, as HSC Trusts that provide services for the whole of Northern Ireland will have a higher number of admissions per head of the population than those which provide more localised services.
Data users should be aware that not all inpatient services are provided at each of the HSC Trusts in Northern Ireland. In some circumstances patients from one HSC Trust area will be admitted to another HSC Trust. It is therefore not possible to accurately calculate the number of inpatient admissions per head of the population in any HSC Trust area, as HSC Trusts that provide services for the whole of Northern Ireland will have a higher number of admissions per head of the population than those which provide more localised services.
Between 2022/23 and 2023/24, the average number of available beds increased by 2.1% (107.3) from 5,090.8 beds to 5,198.1 beds. Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, there was an increase of 7.6% (367.8), from 4,830.3 to 5,198.1.
During 2023/24 there was an average of 4,282.7 occupied beds, an increase of 154.1 (3.7%) on the 4,128.6 occupied beds during the previous year, and an increase of 280.2 ( 7%) from 2019/20.
The occupancy rate of beds in hospitals in Northern Ireland was 82.4% during 2023/24; this was an increase from 81.1% in 2022/23.
Figure 4 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of available and occupied beds for Northern Ireland (excluding South Eastern HSCT) for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. Chart can also be filtered by HSC Trust.
Of the 5,198.1 average available beds in Northern Ireland in 2023/24, 42.8% (2,224.4) were located in Belfast HSC Trust. Western HSC Trust had the lowest proportion of available beds with 17.9% (928.8) of the Northern Ireland total.
During 2023/24, Southern HSC Trust had the highest occupancy rate of all five trusts at 87.3%, while the lowest rate of occupancy was in the Belfast HSC Trust at 77%.
Of the 5,198.1 average available beds in Northern Ireland in 2023/24, 42.8% (2,224.4) were located in Belfast HSC Trust. Western HSC Trust had the lowest proportion of available beds with 17.9% (928.8) of the Northern Ireland total.
During 2023/24, Southern HSC Trust had the highest occupancy rate of all five trusts at 87.3%, while the lowest rate of occupancy was in the Belfast HSC Trust at 77%.
Throughput is a measurement of the average number of inpatient admissions treated in each available bed open overnight each year. There has been an overall decrease in throughput, from 50.3 admissions per bed in 2019/20 to 41.1 admissions per bed in 2023/24.
Figure 5 (above): line chart illustrating the average admissions per available bed for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, Western HSC Trust had the highest throughput with 47.2 admissions per bed, while Belfast HSC Trust had the lowest with 35.9 admissions per bed.
Figure 6 (above): bar chart illustrating the average admissions per available bed during 2023-2024 for each HSC Trust.
Average length of stay in hospitals increased from 6 days in 2019/20 to 7.3 days in 2023/24.
Figure 7 (above): line chart illustrating the average length of stay for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, Belfast HSC Trust had the longest average length of stay with 7.8 days, followed by Northern HSC Trust with 7.4 days. Western HSC Trust had the shortest with 6.7 days. The location of regional specialties such as cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery and forensic psychiatry in the Belfast HSC Trust may explain the longer average length of stay.
Figure 8 (above): bar chart illustrating the average length of stay for each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
Data users should note that ‘Use of Operating Theatres’ statistics are not designated as Accredited Official Statistics.
Please note, figures on use of operating theatres were able to be extracted and validated from Encompass, and therefore South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust figures are included in this section. Figures sourced from Encompass are considered to be “official statistics in development.”
Use of operating theatres for Northern Ireland Cancer Centre have not been validated, and users should therefore treat these with caution.
Information in relation to the use of operating theatres is presented by session type, hospital and HSC Trust. The use of operating theatres relates to the number of cases operated on by National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) classification.
Theatre cases are classified as Immediate, Urgent, Expedited or Elective. In 2023/24, there were 105,922 theatre cases across the five HSC Trust hospitals in Northern Ireland; this was an increase of 7.9% (7,772) compared with 98,150 theatre cases in 2022/23.
Across all Programmes of Care, the number of cases operated on was highest in Belfast HSC Trust, with 36.2% (38,338) of all theatre usage. Northern Trust had the lowest use of operating theatres with 11.3% (11,968).
Across all HSC Trusts, Elective cases accounted for 73.6% of all theatre activity, followed by 12.7% of cases recorded as Expedited, 11.2% as Urgent and 2.5% as Immediate.
Figure 9 (above): line chart illustrating the number of cases operated on by session type for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, the top 5 HSC Trust hospitals with the highest number of cases operated on, accounted for over half (51.4%, 54,460 cases) of all theatre activity in Northern Ireland.
Figure 10 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of cases operated on by hospital in 2023-2024.
During 2023/24, the top 5 specialties accounted for 66.2% (70,151) of all theatre activity. The highest number of cases in Northern Ireland was recorded under General Surgery with 19.5%, followed by Trauma & Orthopaedics 17.7%, Urology 11.1%, Ophthalmology 9.5% and Obs & Gyn (Gynaecology) with 8.4% of all theatre cases.
Of all 105,922 theatre cases, 91.6% (97,000) were under the Acute Programme of Care.
Figure 11 (above): treemap illustrating the number of admissions in each specialty in 2023-2024.
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme.
During 2023/24 there was a total of 405,264 admissions to hospitals in Northern Ireland under the Acute programme of care accounting for approximately 88.2% of all admissions in 2023/24. Admissions increased by 14,129 (3.6%) on the 391,135 admitted in 2022/23. There was a decrease of 25,399 (5.9%) on the 430,663 admitted in 2019/20.
Figure 12 (above): line chart illustrating the number of acute admissions for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
Of the 405,264 acute admissions in 2023/24, 7.8% were elective, 32.3% non-elective, 39.3% day cases and 20.5% were regular day/night attenders.
Figure 13 (above): line chart illustrating the number of acute admissions by type for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 49.7% of admissions to hospital under the acute programme of care in Belfast HSC Trust were either elective (10.9%) or day case (38.8%) admissions. This is the highest proportion for any HSC Trust within Northern Ireland. Of all the admissions to Southern HSC Trust in 2023/24, 4.4% were elective. This is the smallest proportion of elective admissions in any of the four HSC Trusts presented in this publication.
Figure 14 (above): treemap illustrating the number of acute admissions in each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 16.3% of admissions to hospital under the acute programme of care were under the Nephrology specialty, with 12.3% of admissions under General Medicine, 9.9% General Surgery, 7.7% Gastroenterology and 6.5% Haematology (Clinical).
Figure 15 (above): treemap illustrating the number of acute admissions in each specialty in 2023-2024.
The day case rate is given as a percentage of elective admissions (including day cases and elective inpatients).
The day case rate has increased from 80.7% in 2019/20 to 83.4% in 2023/24. The greatest increase occurred between 2020/21 and 2021/22 when the day case rate increased from 81.8 % to 83.6% of all elective admissions.
A method of reducing excess bed days and pre-operative length of stay is to increase the use of day case surgery for procedures such as tonsillectomies, cataract extractions and varicose vein removal where it is clinically safe to do so.
Figure 16 (above): line chart illustrating the day case rate for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
Within the acute programme of care, Southern HSC Trust had a day case rate of 90.2% in 2023/24 which was the highest of the four HSC Trusts. Belfast HSC Trust had the lowest day case rate with 78% of elective admissions recorded as day cases. However, this may be explained by the provision of specialised regional services by the Belfast HSC Trust and on occasion, the higher numbers of complex cases.
Figure 17 (above): bar chart illustrating the day case rate for each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
Within the acute programme of care, from 2019/20 to 2023/24 nine of the top ten specialties by day case rate maintained a rate of over 90%.
Figure 18 (above): line chart illustrating the top 10 specialties with the highest day case rate for 2023-2024, and the corresponding day case rate for these from 2019-2020 onwards.
Top 10 specialties are those with the highest day case rate for 2023/24.
Between 2022/23 and 2023/24 there was an increase of 1.5% ( 54.7) in the average number of available beds in the acute programme of care from 3,668.9 to 3,723.6 beds. In the period between 2019/20 and 2023/24, the average available beds increased by 466.3 from 3,257.3 to 3,723.6.
During 2023/24 there was an average of 3,048.3 occupied beds. This was an increase of 135.1 bed days (4.6%) on the 2,913.2 during the previous year, and an increase of 369 bed days (13.8%) on the number of occupied beds in 2019/20.
The occupancy rate for acute specialties in hospitals in Northern Ireland was 81.9% during 2023/24; this was an increase from 79.4% in 2022/23.
Figure 19 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of acute available and occupied beds for Northern Ireland (excluding South Eastern HSCT) for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. Chart can also be filtered by HSC Trust.
The average length of stay for admissions within the acute programme of care has increased between 2019/20 and 2023/24, from 5.4 days in 2019/20, to 6.9 days in 2023/24.
Figure 20 (above): line chart illustrating the average length of stay in the acute programme of care for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, admissions under the acute programme of care in Western HSC Trust had the lowest average length of stay at 5.6 days. This is in contrast to Belfast HSC Trust where the average length of stay was highest at 7.5 days.
Figure 21 (above): line chart illustrating the average length of stay in the acute programme of care in each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
During 2023/24, the longest average length of stay across all acute specialties in Northern Ireland was under the Rehabilitation specialty where admissions lasted for an average of 46.3 days. During 2023/24, the shortest average length of stay across all acute specialties in Northern Ireland was under the Paediatric Dentistry specialty where admissions lasted for an average of 0.6 days. Please note, the specialty of Oral Surgery was reclassified in some hospitals during the 2023/24 year to Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and as a result these specialties have been removed from the below chart and table.
Figure 22 (above): bar chart illustrating the average length of stay in the acute programme of care in each specialty in 2023-2024.
Data users should note that ‘Acute Services Independent Sector Activity’ statistics are not designated as Accredited Official Statistics.
An Independent Sector provider is a private sector healthcare company that is contracted by the HSC Trust in the provision of healthcare or in the support of the provision of healthcare. All Independent Sector admissions occurred within the Acute Programme of Care.
In 2023/24 there were 15,022 admissions to hospitals in Northern Ireland for an inpatient or day case procedure with an Independent Sector provider that was commissioned by the Health Service. This was a decrease of 4,026 (21.1%) when compared with 2022/23 but an increase of 10,905 (264.9%) when compared with 2019/20.
Figure 23 (above): line chart illustrating the number of acute admissions in the Independent Sector for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
Of the 15,022 admissions to hospitals in Northern Ireland for an inpatient or day case procedure with an Independent Sector provider, the majority (91.9%; 13,806) were admitted for day case treatment while the remaining 8.1% (1,216) were admitted as an inpatient.
Belfast HSCT and Northern HSCT accounted for the highest percentage of admissions, 33.7% (5,058) and 27.9% (4,193) respectively, with an Independent Sector provider in Northern Ireland. Southern HSC Trust had the lowest proportion of Independent Sector provider admissions, with 19.1% (2,869) of all Independent Sector admissions.
Figure 24 (above): stacked bar chart illustrating the number of acute inpatient and day case admissions in the Independent Sector for each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme.
Admissions under the maternity and child health programme of care accounted for 7.9% of all admissions in 2023/24.
Only consultant-led admissions are counted on the KH03A statistical monitoring return, therefore it is not possible to calculate birth rates per admission, as four HSC Trusts operate midwife-led units. Please note, Western Trust’s figures include midwife-led admissions, as this can not be separated out. Similarly, prior to 2022/23, Southern Trust Maternity and Child Health figures included midwife-led admissions and beds.
Please note, in the downloadable data file where details are provided per hospital, Causeway Hospital’s Maternity services were moved to Antrim Area Hospital from July 2023.
In 2023/24 there were 36,091 admissions to hospitals in Northern Ireland under the maternity and child health programme of care, a decrease of 10 (0.03%) when compared with 2022/23 and a decrease of 3,576 ( 9%) when compared with 2019/20. The greatest change in maternity and child health admissions was from 2019/20 (39,667) to 2020/21 (34,753).
Figure 25 (above): line chart illustrating the number of maternity and child health admissions for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 35.8% (12,933) of admissions to hospital under the maternity and child health programme of care were in Belfast HSC Trust, followed by 28.4% (10,249) in Southern HSC Trust.
Figure 26 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of maternity and child health admissions in each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
The average number of available beds increased by 1.7% from 328.1 in 2022/23 to 333.8 in 2023/24. Average occupied beds increased from 178.4 to 189.8 over the same period. Average available beds were 8.9% lower (32.8) in 2023/24 than in 2019/20, with average occupied beds falling by 9.8% from 210.5 to 189.8.
Of the 333.8 average available beds in Northern Ireland in 2023/24, 32.7% (109) were located in Southern HSC Trust. Western HSC Trust had the smallest percentage of available beds, with 20.3% (67.9).
The occupancy rate for maternity specialties in hospitals in Northern Ireland was 56.9% during 2023/24; this is a decrease from the 54.4 in 2022/23, and a further decrease from 57.4% in 2019/20.
Figure 27 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of maternity and child health available and occupied beds for Northern Ireland (excluding South Eastern HSCT) for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. Chart can also be filtered by HSC Trust
Data users should note that ‘Hospital Births’ statistics are not designated as Accredited Official Statistics.
Please note, figures on hospital births were able to be extracted and validated from Encompass, and therefore South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust figures are included in this section. Figures sourced from Encompass are considered to be “official statistics in development.”
Hospital Births statistics relate only to births that occurred, either while admitted to an HSC Trust Hospital in Northern Ireland; or while en route to an HSC Trust hospital, immediately prior to admission. Therefore, these figures do not reflect the number of home births in Northern Ireland, and are not comparable to Birth Registrations data.
The total number of births in hospital in Northern Ireland decreased by 2.6% (529) from 20,355 births in 2022/23 to 19,826 births in 2023/24. Between 2019/20 and 2023/24 total births decreased by 2,689, from 22,515 in 2019/20.
Figure 28 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of hospital births for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
During 2023/24, the majority of live births (90.1%) were consultant-led births. The remaining 9.9% of live births were midwife-led. Still births accounted for 0.3% (51) of all births.
In 2023/24, just under a quarter (4,764, 24%) of all births were in the Belfast HSC Trust, followed by Southern HSC Trust with 23.8% of all births (4,722). Western HSC Trust had the lowest percentage of births with 16.7% (3,319). Births in the Royal Maternity Hospital accounted for 24% (4,764) of births in 2023/24, with the Ulster and Antrim Hospitals accounting for 18.2% and 16.1% of births respectively.
Please note, Causeway Hospital’s Maternity services were moved to Antrim Area Hospital from July 2023.
Figure 29 (above): treemap illustrating the number of hospital births in each hospital in 2023-2024.
Of the 19,826 births in Northern Ireland in 2023/24, 47.1% (9,342) were normal vertex and normal cephalic deliveries. A total of 8,014 (40.4%) births were carried out by caesarean section (4,512 elective and 3,502 emergency).
Figure 30 (above): bar charts illustrating the type of hospital births for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
South Eastern HSC Trust had the highest caesarean section rate with 43.2% (1,560), of all births within the Trust being via caesarean, while Belfast HSC Trust had the lowest rate with 36.4% (1,735).
South Eastern HSC Trust had the highest caesarean section rate with 43.2% (1,560), of all births within the Trust being via caesarean, while Belfast HSC Trust had the lowest rate with 36.4% (1,735).
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme.
Admissions under the Elderly Care programme of care accounted for 3.2% of all admissions in 2023/24. There were 14,708 admissions to hospital in Northern Ireland under the Elderly Care programme of care, a decrease of 181 (1.2%) when compared with 2022/23, and a decrease of 4,556 (23.7%) when compared with 2019/20.
Figure 31 (above): line chart illustrating the number of elderly care admissions for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 38.6% (5,680) of elderly care admissions were in Belfast HSC Trust while Western HSC Trust had the fewest, accounting for 17% (2,505) of all Elderly Care admissions.
Figure 32 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of elderly care admissions in each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
Within the last five years, the greatest number of day cases in the elderly care programme of care was 103 in 2021-2022. In 2023/24 there were 18 more day cases compared to 5 years ago in 2019/20 and 27 more than in 2022/23.
Figure 33 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of elderly care day cases by HSC Trust in 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. There were no day cases in the Northern or Western HSC Trusts during this period.
From 2022/23 to 2023/24, the average number of available beds in the Elderly Care programme of care increased by 46.6 beds (7.5%) from 621.6 to 668.2 beds. Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, there was a decrease of 29.7 (4.3%) from 697.9 to 668.2 beds.
During 2023/24, there was an average of 617.2 occupied beds. This was an increase of 37.1 bed days (6.4%) on the 580.1 during the previous year, and a decrease of 29.9 (4.6%) on the number of occupied beds in 2019/20.
The occupancy rate for elderly care in hospitals in Northern Ireland was 92.4% during 2023/24; this was an increase on the 93.3% in 2022/23.
Figure 34 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of elderly care available and occupied beds for Northern Ireland (excluding South Eastern HSCT) for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. Chart can also be filtered by HSC Trust
The average length of stay for Elderly Care admissions has increased by 3.1 days between 2019/20 (12.3 days) and 2023/24 (15.4 days). Between 2022/23 and 2023/24 the average length of stay increased by 1.1 day.
Figure 35 (above): line chart illustrating the average length of stay in the elderly care programme of care for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme.
Admissions under the Mental Health programme of care accounted for 0.8% of all admissions in 2023/24. Mental health admissions decreased by 812 (19%) between 2019/20 (4,264) and 2023/24 (3,452).
Figure 36 (above): line chart illustrating the number of mental health admissions for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 44.6% (1,538) of a total of 3,452 admissions under the Mental Health programme of care were in Western HSC Trust. Southern HSC Trust had the lowest percentage of mental health admissions with 16.4% (566) of the total.
Figure 37 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of mental health admissions in each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
Between 2022/23 and 2023/24, the average number of available beds in the mental health programme of care increased by 0.6% (2.4) from 396.9 to 399.3. In the period between 2019/20 and 2023/24, there was a decrease of 20.8 (5%) from 420.1 to 399.3.
During 2023/24, there was an average of 379.6 occupied beds. This was a decrease of 20.3 bed days (5.1%) on the 399.9 during the previous year, and a decrease of 1.1 bed days (0.29%) on the number of occupied beds in 2019/20.
The occupancy rate for mental health specialties in hospitals in Northern Ireland in 2023/24 was 95.1%; this was a decrease from 101% in 2022/23.
Please note, in the downloadable data file, Mental Health beds in Downshire include those available and occupied in Downe. The same consultants work across both of these hospitals, and therefore, there has been no reason to split them out.
Figure 38 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of mental health available and occupied beds for Northern Ireland (excluding South Eastern HSCT) for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. Chart can also be filtered by HSC Trust
Further information on hospital activity within the Mental Health and Learning Disability programmes of care during 2023/24 will be published on 30th August 2024 at: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/doh-statistics-and-research-mental-health-and-learning-disabilities/mental-health-and-learning-disability-statistics#toc-0
Further information on hospital activity within the Mental Health and Learning Disability programmes of care during 2023/24 will be published on 30th August 2024 at: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/mental-health-and-learning-disability-statistics
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme.
Admissions under the learning disability programme of care accounted for approximately 0.01% of all admissions. The number of learning disability admissions decreased by 55 from 100 in 2019/20 to 45 in 2023/24 (55%).
Figure 39 (above): line chart illustrating the number of learning disability admissions for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
Between 2022/23 and 2023/24, the average number of available beds in the learning disability programme of care decreased by 2.9% (2.2) from 75.3 to 73.1 beds. From 2019/20 to 2023/24, there was a decrease of 15.4 (17.4%) from 88.5 to 73.1.
During 2023/24, there was an average of 47.7 occupied beds. This was a decrease of 9.4 bed days (16.5%) on the 57.1 during the previous year, and a decrease of 37.2 bed days (43.8%) on the number of occupied beds in 2019/20.
The occupancy rate for learning disability specialties in hospitals in Northern Ireland in 2023/24 was 65.3%; this was a decrease from 75.8% in 2022/23.
Figure 40 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of learning disability available and occupied beds for Northern Ireland (excluding South Eastern HSCT) for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. Chart can also be filtered by HSC Trust
This section presents information on inpatient and day case activity at Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland during the year ending 31 March 2024 for children under the age of 17 years old. This only includes data from within the acute programme of care, and does not include births. Please note, the data below are a subset of the overall data presented above. This section is not Accredited Official Statistics.
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme.
During 2023/24, there were a total of 35,109 admissions to hospitals in Northern Ireland for children under the age of 17. This was a decrease of 358 (1%) on the number admitted in 2022/23 (35,467) and a decrease of 2,667 (7.1%) on the number admitted in 2019/20.
Just over two-thirds (67.4%, 23,666) were inpatient admissions while the remaining 32.6% (11,443) were day case admissions.
Figure 41 (above): line chart illustrating the number of inpatient and day case admissions for each financial year for children from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
As shown in figure 42a Belfast HSC Trust had the highest number of admissions of children during 2023/24, accounting for 41.9% (14,696) of the total admissions. This was followed by 21.1% (7,392) in Northern HSC Trust, 19.1% (6,722) in Western HSCT Trust, and 17.9% (6,299) in Southern HSC Trust. For Trust trends over time please see figure 42b on the second chart tab.
Figure 42a (above): bar chart illustrating the number of admissions in each HSC Trust for children in 2022-2023.
Figure 42b (above): stacked bar chart illustrating the number of inpatient and day case admissions for each financial year for children from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024 for Northern Ireland (excluding South Eastern HSCT) or can be filtered by HSC Trust.
Of the 35,109 acute admissions of children in 2023/24, 7.7% were elective, 59.7% non-elective, 32.2% day cases and 0.4% were regular day/night attenders.
Figure 43 (above): line chart illustrating the number of acute admissions of children by type for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 56.4% of child admissions to hospital under the acute programme of care in Belfast HSC Trust were either elective (9.5%) or day case (46.9%) admissions. This is the highest proportion for any HSC Trust within Northern Ireland. Of all the admissions to Southern HSC Trust in 2023/24, 2.3% were elective. This is the smallest proportion of elective admissions in any of the four HSC Trusts in this publication.
Figure 44 (above): treemap illustrating the number of acute admissions in each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 53.7% of admissions to hospital under the acute programme of care for children were under the Paediatrics specialty, with 7.9% of admissions under General Practice Other, 6% Ear Nose Throat, 5.7% Haematology Clinical and 4.3% Trauma & Orthopaedics Surgery.
Figure 45 (above): treemap illustrating the number of acute admissions of children in each specialty in 2023-2024.
The Paediatrics specialty saw 18,837 admissions of children in 2023/24, a decrease of 2,551(11.9%) from 2022/23 (21,388) and a decrease of 1,750 (8.5%) from 2019/20 (20,587). While this was the highest specialty for admissions by a large margin, other specialties saw a decrease from 2019/20, but an increase from 2022/23. For example, General Practice Other saw an increase of 678 (32.2%) from 2022/23, but a drop of 157 (5.3%) compared with 2019/20.
Figure 46 (above): line chart illustrating the number of acute admissions of children in the top specialties from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
The day case rate is given as a percentage of elective admissions (including day cases and elective inpatients).
The day case rate for children has increased from 76.5% in 2019/20 to 80.7% in 2023/24. The greatest change occurred between 2021/2022 to 2022/2023 when the day case rate increased from 74% to 77.5% of all elective admissions.
A method of reducing excess bed days and pre-operative length of stay is to increase the use of day case surgery for procedures such as tonsillectomies, where it is clinically safe to do so.
Figure 47 (above): line chart illustrating the day case rate for children for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
For admissions of under 17s, Southern HSC Trust had a day case rate of 92.3% in 2023/24, which was the highest of the four HSC Trusts. Western HSC Trust had the lowest day case rate with 64.1% of elective admissions recorded as day cases.
Figure 48 (above): line chart illustrating the day case rate for children for each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
This section presents information on inpatient and day case activity at Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland during the year ending 31 March 2024 for adults aged 65 and over. This only includes data from within the acute and elderly care programmes of care. Please note, the data below are a subset of the overall data presented above. This section is not Accredited Official Statistics.
Figures for South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have not been included in this section, as data is still being developed following the launch of the Encompass programme.
During 2023/24, there were a total of 201,219 admissions to hospitals under the acute and elderly programmes of care for older adults aged 65 and over. This was an increase of 6,482 (3.3%) on the number admitted in 2022/23 (194,737) and a decrease of 9,994 (4.7%) on the number admitted in 2019/20 (211,213).
In 2023/24, over half (57.1%, 114,909) were day case admissions while the remaining 42.9% (86,310) were inpatient admissions.
Figure 49 (above): line chart illustrating the number of inpatient and day case admissions for each financial year for adults aged 65 and over from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
As shown in figure 50a, Belfast HSC Trust had the highest number of admissions of older adults during 2023/24, accounting for 36.5% (73,525) of the total admissions. This was followed by 23.6% (47,518) in Northern HSC Trust, 20.4% (41,033) in Western HSC Trust, and 19.5% (39,143) in Southern HSC Trust. For Trust trends over time, please see figure 50b on the second chart tab.
Figure 50a (above): bar chart illustrating the number of admissions in each HSC Trust for older adults in 2023-2024.
Figure 50b (above): stacked bar chart illustrating the number of inpatient and day case admissions for each financial year for adults aged 65 and over from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024 for Northern Ireland (excluding South Eastern HSCT) or can be filtered by HSC Trust.
In 2023/24, there were 186,511 acute admissions of older adults, of which 6.7% were elective, 31.7% non-elective, 37.1% day cases and 24.5% were regular day/night attenders.
Figure 51 (above): line chart illustrating the number of acute admissions of adults aged 65 and over by type for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 50.2% of older adult admissions to hospital under the acute programme of care in Northern HSC Trust were either elective (3.4%) or day case (46.8%) admissions. This is the highest proportion for any HSC Trust within Northern Ireland.
Figure 52 (above): treemap illustrating the number of acute admissions of adults aged 65 and over in each HSC Trust in 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 21% of admissions to hospital under the acute programme of care for older adults were under the Nephrology specialty, with 14.9% of admissions under General Medicine, 9% General Surgery, 7.6% Haematology Clinical, and 7% Cardiology.
Figure 53 (above): treemap illustrating the number of acute admissions of adults aged 65 and over within each specialty in 2023-2024.
Across all of the top acute specialties for older adults, there was a drop from 2019/20 to 2020/21 with the break out of the COVID-19 pandemic. These then tended to increase in 2021/22, remaining relatively steady through to 2023/24.
Figure 54 (above): line chart illustrating the number of admissions of adults aged 65 and over for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024 within the top specialties.
The day case rate is given as a percentage of elective admissions (including day cases and elective inpatients).
The day case rate within the Acute Programme of Care has increased for older adults from 80.7% in 2019/20 to 84.7% in 2023/24. The greatest increase occurred between 2019/20 to 2020/21 when the day case rate increased from 80.7% to 82.7% of all elective admissions.
A method of reducing excess bed days and pre-operative length of stay is to increase the use of day case surgery for procedures such as tonsillectomies, cataract extractions and varicose vein removal, where it is clinically safe to do so.
Figure 55 (above): line chart illustrating the day case rate for adults aged 65 and over for each financial year from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
For admissions of adults aged 65 and over, Northern HSC Trust had an Acute Programme of Care day case rate of 93.2% in 2023/24, which was the highest of the four HSC Trusts. Belfast HSC Trust had the lowest day case rate with 75.7% of elective admissions recorded as day cases.
Figure 56 (above): line chart illustrating the day case rate for adults aged 65 and over in 2023-2024.
In 2023/24, 73,244 adults aged 65 and over were admitted at least once to the Acute Programme of Care. Of these individuals, 44,877 (61.3%) were only admitted once, 14,891 (20.3%) were admitted two times, and 13,476 (18.4%) were admitted more than two times within the year. According to the Northern Ireland Census 2021, there were 255,327 people aged 65 and over in 2021 resident in the four HSC Trusts presented in this publication. Therefore, approximately 28.7% of the older adult population were admitted to hospital at least once in 2023/24.
Figure 57 (above): bar chart illustrating the number of times individuals aged 65 and over were admitted to hospitals in 2023-2024.
Since 2019/20, the proportion of individuals aged 65 and over who have been admitted on only one occasion to hospitals within the Acute Programme of Care has remained relatively steady, with the exception of 2020/21 during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 44,491 (60.5%) in 2019/20 and 44,877 (61.3%) in 2023/24. Similarly, 14,787 (20.1%) individuals were admitted twice within the financial year for 2019/20, and 14,891 (20.3%) within 2023/24. For three or more admissions, 14,264 (19.4%) people fell into this category in 2019/20, and 13,476 (18.4%) in 2023/24.
Figure 58 (above): line chart illustrating the number of times individuals aged 65 and over were admitted to hospitals from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.
All information presented in this bulletin has been provided by HSC Trusts or downloaded by Hospital Information Branch (HIB) from an electronic patient-level administrative system within an agreed timescale and quality assured by HIB prior to release.
Queries arising from validation checks are presented to HSC Trusts for clarification and if required, returns may be amended. Once complete, all figures are sent to HSC Trusts for final sign-off.
Trend analyses are used to monitor annual variations and emerging trends.
Within the Hospital Births and Use of Operating Theatres sections, data was provided by South Eastern HSC Trust beyond 9th November 2023 using the new Encompass system.
Data Considerations:
Data providers are supplied with technical guidance documents outlining the methodologies that should be used in the collection, reporting and validation of each of these data returns. These documents can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/inpatient-and-day-case-activity
It is not possible to accurately identify ambulatory care pathway activity, and as such this activity has been excluded from this publication. Similarly, use of virtual wards within Emergency Care Departments has been excluded from this publication. Patient transfers within the same Trust have been counted as multiple admissions.
The data for individual hospitals on certain indicators (e.g. ‘Average Available Beds’) will not always sum to the HSC Trust total or the overall NI total due to rounding. In addition, certain indicators (e.g. ‘Throughput’) have been derived from unrounded figures for greater accuracy. They may therefore differ slightly from values obtained through using rounded figures in the formulae. Percentages have been rounded to one decimal place and therefore totals may not sum to 100.
The main uses of these data are to monitor inpatient and day case activity, to help assess Trust performance, for corporate monitoring, to inform and monitor related policy, and to respond to parliamentary/assembly questions and ad-hoc queries.
Inpatient and day case activity information is available for elsewhere in the UK, however, users should be aware that this data in other administrations is not always measured in a comparable manner to Northern Ireland. Inpatient and day case activity information published elsewhere in the UK can be found as detailed below:
England:
Scotland:
https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20521
Wales:
1. Programme of Care
Activity has been grouped into POCs on the basis of the main specialty of the consultant in charge of the patient. In a small number of cases, this may lead to differences between the strict POC and the specialty of the consultant in charge.
2. Inpatients
Inpatient admissions include both (a) patients admitted electively with the expectation that they will remain in hospital for at least one night, and (b) non-elective admissions (e.g. emergency admissions). A patient who is admitted with this intention, but who leaves hospital for any reason without staying overnight is still counted as an inpatient. Day cases and regular attenders are not included.
3. Day Case
A patient admitted electively during the course of a day with the intention of receiving care who does not require the use of a hospital bed overnight and who returns home as scheduled. If this original intention is not fulfilled and the patient stays overnight, such a patient should be counted as an inpatient. Regular attenders have been included within the day case statistics for all programmes of care but presented separately for the acute programme of care.
4. Admissions
Total admissions has been taken to be the sum of all day cases, inpatients (elective and non-elective) and regular attenders. Deaths and discharges have been used as an approximation for admissions.
5. Average Available/Occupied Beds
The average number of available and occupied beds during the year in wards that are open overnight, measured at midnight. Beds reserved for day care admission or regular day admission are not included.
6. Percentage Occupancy
A measurement of the percentage of time that beds are occupied. Day cases and regular attenders are excluded from the calculation. Note: In exceptional circumstances, the number of average occupied beds may exceed the number of average available beds. This can be due to both patient management and/or recording methods.
Occupancy (%) = (Average Daily Occupied Beds) / (Average Daily Available Beds) × 100
7. Throughput
A measurement of the average number of inpatient admissions treated in each available bed open overnight each year. Day Cases and regular attenders are excluded from the calculation. Where small values of average available and average occupied beds have resulted in a throughput value greater than 365, this has been set to ‘-’, as 365 is the maximum possible value of throughput.
Throughput = (Total Inpatients) / (Total Available Beds)
8. Average Length of Stay
A measurement of the average length of time spent in hospital. Day Cases and regular attenders are excluded from the calculation. Note: The calculation of average length of stay assumes that patients spend the entire length of their stay in hospital within the same specialty. On occasions, patients may be transferred between specialties during the same stay in hospital. In these circumstances, such transfers may slightly skew the average length of stay at a specialty level.
Average Length of Stay = (Average Daily Occupied Beds x Days in Year) / (Total Inpatients)
9. Elective Inpatient
A patient for whom the decision to admit could be separated in time from the actual admission. This excludes emergency admissions and maternity or delivery episodes.
10. Non-Elective Inpatient
A patient for whom admission is unpredictable and at short notice because of clinical need.
11. Regular Day/Night Attender
A patient who is admitted electively and regularly for a planned sequence of days or nights and who returns home for the remainder of the 24 hour period. This method of admission is particularly common for Renal Dialysis and Chemotherapy. Regular attenders have been included within the day case statistics for all programmes of care with the exception of acute services.
12. Day Case Rate
The number of day cases is given as a percentage of elective inpatients.
Day Case Rate = (Total Day Cases) / (Total Elective Inpatients + Total Day Cases) × 100
13. Specialty
A specialty is a particular branch of medicine or surgery. Each consultant is assigned a main specialty from a list recognised by the Royal Colleges and Faculties. Information is recorded against the specialty of the treating consultant.
14. Use of Operating Theatres
It is not possible to split cases operated on under the obstetrics specialty in Altnagelvin Hospital into the 4 National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) classifications, therefore all non-elective cases are reported under the urgent category. Information relating to availability and use of operating theatres excludes the following: - Obstetric delivery room containing a delivery bed; - Dental treatment room or surgery containing a dental chair; - X-ray room, whether diagnostic or therapeutic; - Room only used to carry out endoscopy.
15. Immediate
Immediate life, limb or organ-saving intervention – resuscitation simultaneous with intervention. Normally within minutes of decision to operate. a) Life-saving b) Other e.g. limb or organ saving
16. Urgent
Intervention for acute onset or clinical deterioration of potentially life-threatening conditions, for those conditions that may threaten the survival of limb or organ, for fixation of many fractures and for relief of pain or other distressing symptoms. Normally within hours of decision to operate.
17. Expedited
Expedited patient requiring early treatment where the condition is not an immediate threat to life, limb or organ survival. Normally within days of decision to operate.
18. Elective
Elective intervention planned or booked in advance of routine admission to hospital. Timing to suit patient, hospital and staff.
19. Acute Services Independent Sector Activity
This is the number of health service patients who were admitted for acute inpatient or day case treatment with an Independent Sector provider. An Independent Sector provider is a private sector healthcare company that is contracted by the HSCT in the provision of healthcare or in the support of the provision of healthcare.
20. Live/Still Birth
A birth can be classified as ‘live’ or ‘still’. A still birth is where, after a gestation period of at least 24 weeks, the baby shows no identifiable signs of life at delivery. Figures relate to only those births that occurred within a hospital, i.e. home births are not included.
21. Consultant-led Unit
Consultant-led units are maternity units where assistance from an obstetrician, anaesthetist or neonatologist/paediatrician is available. Consultant-led units need to be able to care for women with complex needs.
22. Midwife-led Unit
Midwife-led units are maternity units run solely by midwives. They can either stand alongside a consultant-led unit or be free standing. Midwife led units will only admit women experiencing a straightforward pregnancy and birth.
The data contained in this publication are presented on an annual basis. They represent inpatient and day case activity at inpatient services at Health and Social Care (HSC) hospitals in Northern Ireland and Independent Sector providers. This publication refers to all acute, maternity, elderly care, mental health and learning disability hospitals.
Data are presented on the number of available and occupied beds and inpatient admissions in Northern Ireland. Data are presented by the HSC hospital of admission, which are then aggregated up to HSC Trust, in Northern Ireland.
Acute data are split by admission method into elective inpatient, non-elective inpatient, day case and regular attenders. The sum of the elective inpatients and non-elective inpatients totals the number of inpatients. Similarly, the sum of the day cases and the regular attenders equals the total number of day cases within the acute POC.
Non acute data are split by admission method into inpatient and day case admissions. Patients who are treated at an accident and emergency department but are not subsequently admitted are not included.
Please note, data was not able to be provided in this section for South Eastern HSC Trust, as this is still under development from the new Encompass system.
Available and occupied beds for all programmes of care and non-acute activity data are sourced via the Departmental Return KH03a. Acute activity data are sourced from the Hospital Inpatient System.
Average Available/Occupied Beds – this is the number of available and occupied beds during the year in wards that are open overnight.
Specialty – this is the number of admissions within each medical speciality. Medical specialty is determined by the consultant in charge of the treatment of the patient. Each consultant employed by an HSC Trust will have an allocated specialty of employment, and it will be this specialty against which the patient’s admission will be reported.
Programme of Care (PoC) – this relates to the number of admissions within each Programme of Care which is a classification that aggregates specialties on the basis of the type of health care they provide, into a higher level classification.
These are not Accredited Official Statistics.
Data provider - Theatre Management System through the Business Objects Data Warehouse, and Encompass for South Eastern HSC Trust from 9 November 2023.
Cases Operated On – These data provide insight into the usage of theatre resources by different specialties.
This relates to the number of health service patients who were admitted for an acute inpatient procedure with an Independent Sector provider. Data are presented by specialty and commissioning HSC Trust (the HSC Trust responsible for the patient’s waiting time), in Northern Ireland. These are not Accredited Official Statistics.
Please note, data was not able to be provided in this section for South Eastern HSC Trust, as this is still under development from the new Encompass system.
Data provider - Departmental Return IS1 Part 2 by the Strategic Performance and Planning Group (SPPG), which is responsible for the regional commissioning of independent sector provision.
Independent Sector provision is introduced when the demand for certain types of inpatient service is greater than the capacity within HSC hospitals. When this situation results in increases in both the number of patients waiting and the length of time waiting, patients may be admitted for a procedure undertaken by an Independent Sector provider. The cost of treating these patients is met by the transferring HSC Trust.
Data on the number of births in HSC Hospitals in Northern Ireland. Data are split by both live and still births and method of delivery and presented by hospital and type of unit. These are not Accredited Official Statistics.
Data provider - Northern Ireland Maternity System (NIMATS) through the Business Objects Data Warehouse, and Encompass for South Eastern HSC Trust from 9 November 2023.
This relates to the number of births in hospital, (home births are not included) and provides information on which HSC Trusts have the highest numbers of births.
Programmes of Care are divisions of healthcare, into which activity and finance data are assigned, so as to provide a common management framework. They are used to plan and monitor the health service, by allowing performance to be measured, targets set and services managed on a comparative basis. In total, there are nine Programmes of Care; however, only five of these are relevant to hospital activity. The relevant hospital specialties within each of the Programmes of Care are shown below.
POC 1 - Acute Services 100 General Surgery, 101
Urology, 110 T & O Surgery, 120 ENT, 130 Ophthalmology, 140 Oral
Surgery, 141 Restorative Dentistry, 142 Paediatric Dentistry, 143
Orthodontics, 145 Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 150 Neurosurgery, 160
Plastic Surgery, 170 Cardiac Surgery, 171 Paediatric Surgery, 172
Thoracic Surgery, 180 Accident & Emergency, 190 Anaesthetics, 191
Pain Management, 300 General Medicine, 301 Gastroenterology, 302
Endocrinology, 303 Haematology (Clinical), 311 Clinical Genetics, 314
Rehabilitation, 315 Palliative Medicine, 320 Cardiology, 330
Dermatology, 340 Thoracic Medicine, 350 Infectious Diseases, 360
Genito-Urinary Medicine, 361 Nephrology, 370 Medical Oncology, 400
Neurology, 401 Clinical Neuro-Physiology, 410 Rheumatology,
420 Paediatrics, 421 Paediatric Neurology, 450 Dental Medicine, 502
Gynaecology, 620 GP Other, 800 Clinical Oncology, 810 Radiology, 822
Chemical Pathology, 823 Haematology, 990 Joint Consultant Clinics, 999
Other Specialties
POC 2 - Maternity and Child Health 501 Obstetrics, 510 Obstetrics (Ante Natal), 520 Obstetrics (Post Natal), 540 Well Babies (Obstetrics), 550 Well Babies (Paediatrics)
POC 4 - Elderly Care 430 Geriatric Medicine, 715 Old Age Psychiatry
POC 5 - Mental Health 710 Mental Illness, 711 Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 712 Forensic Psychiatry, 713 Psychotherapy
POC 6 - Learning Disability 700 Learning Disability
Hospital Information Branch is responsible for the collection, quality assurance, analysis and publication of timely and accurate information derived from a wide range of statistical information returns supplied by the Health & Social Care (HSC) Trusts and Strategic Performance and Planning Group (SPPG). Statistical information is collected routinely from a variety of electronic patient level administrative systems and pre-defined survey return templates. The Head of Branch is Principal Statistician, Liz Graham. The Branch aims to present information in a meaningful way and provide advice on its uses to customers in the HSC Committee, Professional Advisory Groups, policy branches within the DoH, other Health organisations, academia, private sector organisations, charity/voluntary organisations as well as the general public. The statistical information collected is used to contribute to major exercises such as reporting on the performance of the HSC system, other comparative performance exercises, target setting and monitoring, development of service frameworks as well as policy formulation and evaluation. In addition, the information is used in response to a significantly high volume of Parliamentary / Assembly questions and ad-hoc queries each year. Information is disseminated through a number of key statistical publications, including: Inpatient Activity, Outpatient Activity, Emergency Care, Mental Health & Learning Disability and Waiting Time Statistics (Inpatient, Outpatient, Diagnostics and Cancer).
This Statistical bulletin and others published by Hospital Information Branch are available to download from the DoH Internet site at: Internet address: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/doh-statistics-and-research
Other Department of Health publications are available here: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/dhssps-statistics-and-research/hospital-statistics
Accredited Official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in June 2013. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’
It is a producer’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected of Accredited Official Statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. Accredited Official Statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website: https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk
Find out more about the Code of Practice at: http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/.
