NHS inpatient and outpatient waiting events figures for the quarter ending 31^st March 2013 include data for England, Strategic Health Authorities, and NHS Trusts and PCTs.

The latest quarterly statistics on NHS inpatient and outpatient waiting events produced by NHS England were released on 31^st May 2013 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

The figures for a quarter can be affected by the number of working days in that quarter so figures below have been adjusted for this where appropriate.  January to March 2012 had 64 working days and January to March 2013 had 62 working days.  2011/12 had 252 working days and 2012/13 had 250 working days.

In line with our revisions policy, we have published revisions covering the periods April 2011 to December 2012.

The key points from the latest release are:

Inpatient Events

From Q4 2011/12 to Q4 2012/13 the number of decisions to admit has decreased by 43,677 (-3.0% or 0.1% adjusted for working days) to 1.4 million, similarly the number of elective admissions from the list has increased by 46,218 (-3.5% or -0.4% adjusted for working days) to 1.3 million.

From 2011/12 to 2012/13 the number of decisions to admit has increased by 93,820 (1.7% or 2.5% adjusted for working days) to 5.7 million, similarly the number of elective admissions from the list has increased by 68,753 (1.4% or 2.2% adjusted for working days) to 5.1 million.

Outpatient Referrals and attendances

From Q4 2011/12 to Q4 2012/13 the number of GP referrals made has decreased by 52,532 (-1.8% or 1.4% adjusted for working days) to 2.9 million and the number of other referrals made has decreased by 23,599 (-1.3% or 1.9% adjusted for working days) to 1.8 million.

From 2011/12 to 2012/13 the number of GP referrals made has increased by 231,491 (2.0% or 2.8% adjusted for working days) to 11.7 million and the number of other referrals made has increased by 269,935 (3.8% or 4.6% adjusted for working days) to 7.4 million.

From Q4 2011/12 to Q4 2012/13 first attendances at consultant outpatient clinics have decreased by 38,573 (-0.9% or 2.3% adjusted for working days) to 4.3 million and total attendances decreased by 124,550 (-0.9% or 2.3% adjusted for working days) to 13.6 million.

From 2011/12 to 2012/13 first attendances at consultant outpatient clinics have increased by 290,093 (1.7% or 2.5% adjusted for working days) to 17.2 million and total attendances increased by 1,078,068 (2.0% or 2.9% adjusted for working days) to 53.8 million.

Did not attend (DNA) rate for first outpatients appointment for Q4 2012/13 was 8.5% compared to 8.0% for Q4 2011/12.

Did not attend (DNA) rate for first outpatients appointment for 2012/13 was 8.5% compared to 8.4% for 2011/12.

Note

These data are available using the link below.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/hospital-activity/quarterly-hospital-activity/qar-data/