The Percentage of Deaths With 3 or More Emergency Admissions in the Last 3 Months of Life

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Palliative Care
Country
England
Publishing Organisation
Public Health England National End of Life Care Intelligence Network (NEoLCIN)
Type of Quality Indicator
Outcome
IOM Quality Dimension
Effectiveness
Domain
Care of the Patient at the End of Life

Defining Attributes

Definition

Intended as a measure of end of life care services, this is not a direct measure of the quality of care at the individual level. It is actively monitored by Sustainable Transformation Partnerships and Clinical Commissioning Groups that are encouraged to investigate when this measure is high, which could indicate: poor identification of people at risk of death, poor planning and availability of services, poor communication, co-ordination and information sharing.

Numerator

The number of people with three or more emergency admissions in the last three months or year of life, taken from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) with linked Office for National Statistics (ONS) mortality data.

Denominator

The total number of deaths, excluding neonatal deaths. Figures are for deaths of people resident in England and are based on deaths registered rather than deaths occurring each year.

Exclusions

Denominator total numbers of deaths exclude those of neonates (28 days or younger). Excludes any deaths for which the linked mortality data quality marker suggesting the matched Hospital Episode Statistics data includes activity after the date of death.

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments
Stratifications

Sex, age at death (by all ages, under 75 years, 75 years and older), cause of death and where they live (region, social deprivation and rurality). International Classification of Diseases (ICD) categories ARE used to classify the following cause of death: cancer: C00-C97 (excluding C44); dementia: F00-F04, G30-G31; acute heart disease (AHD): I20-I25, I39, I40-I41, I46-I49, I51; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): J40-J44; pneumonia: J12-J18; stroke: I60-I69; chronic heart disease (CHD): I05-I11, I13, I31, I34-I36, I38, I42, I50, I70, I95; liver disease: B15-19, K70-77; falls: W00-19.

Data Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Produced by Public Health England and based on the following data sources: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES); Linked Hospital Episode Statistics-Office for National Statistics (HES-ONS) mortality extract; Office for National Statistics: Public Health England Annual Births and Mortality Extracts.

Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods

Public reporting.

Reporting Frequency
Annually
Reporting Frequency in Days
365
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Technical Specifications
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
Yes
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
12 March 2025