Emergency Readmissions Within 30 Days of Discharge From Hospital

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Primary Care
Country
England
Publishing Organisation
National Health Service (NHS): Outcomes Framework
Type of Quality Indicator
Outcome
IOM Quality Dimension
Efficiency
Domain
Hospitalisations

Defining Attributes

Definition

Indirectly age, sex, method of admission and diagnosis/procedure standardised percentage of emergency admissions to any hospital in England occurring within 30 days of the last, previous discharge from hospital after admission. Admissions for cancer and obstetrics are excluded

Numerator

The number of finished and unfinished CIP spells intersecting the respective financial year, plus those up to 30 days into the next financial year that are emergency admissions within 0- 29 days (inclusive) of the last, previous discharge from hospital, including those where the patient dies

Denominator

The number of finished CIP spells within selected medical and surgical specialties with a discharge date up to 31st March in the financial year of analysis

Exclusions

Denominator: Day cases, spells with a discharge coded as death, maternity spells and those with mention of a diagnosis of cancer or chemotherapy for cancer anywhere in the spell Numerator: those with a main specialty and primary diagnosis upon readmission coded under obstetrics and those where the readmitting spell has a diagnosis of cancer (other than benign or in situ) or chemotherapy for cancer coded anywhere in the spell.

Use of Risk Adjustment
Yes
Risk Adjustments

Age and sex, direct standardisation

Stratifications

Gender (male and female) Persons by deprivation quintile

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Hospital Episode Statistics for Admitted Patient Care (HES APC) linked as Continuous Inpatient (CIP) Spells. webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180328130852tf_/ content.digital.nhs.uk/m edia/11859/Provider-Spells-Methodology/pdf/

Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods
Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Link to Measurement Tools
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
Yes
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
02 December 2025