Latest hospital admission data published

NHS Digital has today published figures on the number of NHS hospital admissions for 2020-21.

The Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity, 2020-21 report includes data on Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs)1 and Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs)2.

The data is broken down to cover information on:

Causes of admissions
Diagnoses on admission (provisional)3
Procedures carried out
Patient demographics
Regional or organisational breakdowns
Changes over time
The report covers admissions to NHS hospitals as well as NHS commissioned work in independent providers in England.

The data does not represent a count of individual people or patients as the same person could be admitted to hospital multiple times or seen by of number of different consultants.

The report uses data from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)4, which is an invaluable tool for the NHS to understand demands on the frontline, planning for new services and supports research into new treatments and drugs.

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 aggregated and anonymous.