The number of admissions has increased year-on-year from 2000 to 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital admission dropped in 2020/21. In 2023/24 there were around 17.6 million admissions* to NHS hospitals in England, showing that admission numbers have reached and exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

Between July and September 2019, there were almost 1.5 million admissions to NHS hospitals in England. Over the provided time interval, that is the quarter with the highest number of admissions.

Busiest hospitals in England

During the financial year 2018/19, the busiest hospital provider in England was the University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust with almost 393.6 thousand admissions. This trust encompasses four hospitals in the Birmingham area, one of the largest urban areas in England. The second busiest trust in this year was the Manchester University Foundation Trust with approximately 315.7 thousand admissions.

Emergency admissions

In the period 2018/19, there were over six million accident and emergency (A&E) attendees in each quarter of the year in England. Prior to 2017/18, no previous quarter in England since 2012 had reached six million A&E attendances, indicating an increasing number of individuals are seeking emergency care. Approximately 5.1 percent of A&E attendees in England in 2018/19 were primarily diagnosed with a dislocation, fracture, joint injury, or an amputation, followed by 5 percent diagnosed with a respiratory condition. Although 4.7 percent were found to have ‘nothing abnormal detected’ which could be detrimental to a service that is already stretched.

Legacy unique identifier: P02177

This publication looks at Accident and Emergency activity in England for the financial year 2023-24. It describes NHS accident and emergency activity and performance in hospitals in England. The data sources for this publication are the Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) and Emergency Admissions Monthly Situation Reports (MSitAE) relating to A&E attendances in NHS hospitals, minor injury units and walk-in centres. The report includes analysis by patient demographics, time spent in A&E, distributions by time of arrival and day of week, arriving by ambulance, performance times, waits for admission and reattendances to A&E within 7 days. The purpose of this publication is to inform and support strategic and policy-led processes for the benefit of patient care and may also be of interest to researchers, journalists and members of the public interested in NHS hospital activity in England. Note: the MSitAE figures presented in the 'MSitAE Report Tables' file account for revisions to historic data and may therefore differ slightly from those shown in the 'Quality Indicators (CQI) Open Data' file, which is based on data published at fixed points in the year. The MSitAE data referenced throughout this report are published monthly by NHS England on the separate 'NHS England MSitAE Home Page', as linked to in the Related Links section below. This publication includes the total number of attendances for all A&E types, including Urgent Treatment Centres, Minor Injury Units and Walk-in Centres, and of these, the number discharged, admitted or transferred within four hours of arrival. Also included are the number of Emergency Admissions, and any waits of over four hours for admission following decision to admit. Contact details Author: Secondary Care Open Data and Publications; Activity Capacity & Planning, NHS England Responsible Statistician: Karl Eichler Email: enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk Press enquiries should be made to: Media Relations Manager: telephone 0300 303 3888

As of October 6, 2022, 11,641 confirmed COVID-19 patients were in hospital in the United Kingdom. The number of COVID patients in hospitals first peaked at over 21.6 thousand on April 12, 2020 and dropped as low as 772 on September 11, 2020. However, the number of patients reached a new peak in the winter of 2020/21 with over 39.2 thousand patients in hospital on January 18, 2021.

The total number of cases in the UK can be found here. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Emergency hospital admission rates for all conditions and all ages. Data is available from Health and Social Care Information Centre Indicator Portal and Hospital episode statistics legacy website containing content from the London Health Observatory].

Indirectly age and sex standardised rates.

Directly age and sex standardised admission rate for emergency admissions for acute conditions that should not usually require hospital admission per 100,000 registered patients, 95% confidence intervals (CI). March 2022 - The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began to have an impact on Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data late in the 2019-20 financial year, which continued into the 2020-21 financial year. This means we are seeing different patterns in the submitted data, for example, fewer patients being admitted to hospital, and therefore statistics which contain data from this period should be interpreted with care. Further information is available in the annual HES publication: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity/2020-21/covid-19-impact As of the October 2020 release, the CCG OIS is now published on an annual basis, as a result provisional data periods will no longer be published. The annual update will be based on finalised data for the April to March reporting period each year. As of the March 2020 release, the data included in the December 2019 publication for the 2018/19, July 2018 to June 2019 (Provisional) and October 2018 to September 2019 (Provisional) data periods has been revised. This is due to a revision of a large proportion of records for East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (RXC) which had missing information for the condition the patient was in hospital for and other conditions the patients suffer from. The revised data for these reporting periods also differs from that originally published in December 2019 in that the HES database is routinely updated (overwritten) on a monthly basis for the year in progress. Data for the two provisional periods remain provisional, but is now more complete than it was when the December 2019 publication was released. This effect cannot be readily separated from the effect of the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (RXC) resubmission which also took place after processing for the December 2019 publication. Legacy unique identifier: P01844

This statistic shows the annual number of admissions to NHS hospitals in Wales from 2004/05 to 2020/21. The number of admissions to NHS hospitals has generally increased over the period in consideration, amounting to around 877 thousand in 2018/19. However, a significant drop was registered in 2020/21 due to the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 has greatly impacted Admitted Patient Care in 2020/21.

During the financial year 2022/23, the busiest hospital provider in England was the University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust with over 333 thousand admissions. This trust encompasses four hospitals in the Birmingham area, one of the largest urban areas in England. The second busiest trust this year was the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust with approximately 298 thousand admissions.

Accident and emergency admissions

From April to June 2023, there were around 6.5 million accident and emergency (A&E) attendees (including at A&E departments not in hospitals) in England. After the drop in A&E attendances during the COVID-pandemic, numbers have risen again to previous levels, with a trend towards an increasing number of individuals seeking emergency care. Over three percent of A&E attendees in England in 2022/23 were first diagnosed with a sprained ankle, knee, wrist, or foot, and over four percent were diagnosed with a respiratory infection. Furthermore, 7.4 percent were found to have ‘no abnormality detected’ which could be detrimental to a service that is already stretched.

Waiting too long

Over the last few years in the A&E department, the NHS has been falling behind the target that 95 percent of patients should be seen within four hours of arrival. The last time this target was reached was back in July 2015. Not just the A&E department, but other services also require lengthy waits. It is no wonder that the majority of respondents surveyed were fairly or very dissatisfied with the length of wait for many aspects of NHS care. Moreover, in general, levels of satisfaction with the way NHS runs is at an all time low.

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) is a database containing details of all admissions, A and E attendances and outpatient appointments at NHS hospitals in England. Initially this data is collected during a patient's time at hospital as part of the Commissioning Data Set (CDS). This is submitted to NHS Digital for processing and is returned to healthcare providers as the Secondary Uses Service (SUS) data set and includes information relating to payment for activity undertaken. It allows hospitals to be paid for the care they deliver. This same data can also be processed and used for non-clinical purposes, such as research and planning health services. Because these uses are not to do with direct patient care, they are called 'secondary uses'. This is the HES data set. HES data covers all NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England, including: private patients treated in NHS hospitals patients resident outside of England care delivered by treatment centres (including those in the independent sector) funded by the NHS Each HES record contains a wide range of information about an individual patient admitted to an NHS hospital, including: clinical information about diagnoses and operations patient information, such as age group, gender and ethnicity administrative information, such as dates and methods of admission and discharge geographical information such as where patients are treated and the area where they live We apply a strict statistical disclosure control in accordance with the NHS Digital protocol, to all published HES data. This suppresses small numbers to stop people identifying themselves and others, to ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained. https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-outpatient-activity

In 2000/01 there were approximately 1.28 million adults admitted to hospital in England due to an illness caused by smoking. By 2019/20 the number of hospital admissions as a result of smoking had increased to approximately 1.99 million, the largest number during the provided time period.

Smoking prevalence across age groups in England

In England in 2018, 27 percent of men and 22 percent of women aged between 25 and 34 years were current smokers. This is the highest share of male smokers across the age groups, while the age group of 45 to 54 years had the second largest proportion of female smokers at 18 percent.

Situation north of the border

In Scotland, the highest share of regular smokers is found in the age group 25 to 44 years at approximately 22 percent, followed by those aged between 45 and 54 years at 21 percent. In 2019, 19 percent of men and 16 percent of women overall in Scotland were current smokers. 

Legacy unique identifier: P02175

The number of admissions to NHS hospitals was approximately 459,560 in 2023/24, the second-lowest number in the recorded time period. This statistic shows the annual number of admissions to NHS hospitals in Northern Ireland from 2010/11 to 2023/24.

In 2022/23, there were approximately 35 thousand detentions under the Mental Health Act on admission to hospital in England, the second-highest number reported since 2015/16. This statistic displays the number of detentions on admission to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 in England from 2009/10 to 2022/23.

Initially this data is collected during a patient's time at hospital as part of the Commissioning Data Set (CDS). This is submitted to NHS Digital for processing and is returned to healthcare providers as the Secondary Uses Service (SUS) data set and includes information relating to payment for activity undertaken. It allows hospitals to be paid for the care they deliver. This same data can also be processed and used for non-clinical purposes, such as research and planning health services. Because these uses are not to do with direct patient care, they are called 'secondary uses'. This is the SUS data set. SUS data covers all NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England, including: 1. private patients treated in NHS hospitals 2. patients resident outside of England 3. care delivered by treatment centres (including those in the independent sector) funded by the NHS

Each SUS record contains a wide range of information about an individual patient admitted to an NHS hospital, including: 1. clinical information about diagnoses and operations 2. patient information, such as age group, gender and ethnicity 3. administrative information, such as dates and methods of admission and discharge 4. geographical information such as where patients are treated and the area where they live

NHS Digital apply a strict statistical disclosure control in accordance with the NHS Digital protocol, to all published SUS data. This suppresses small numbers to stop people identifying themselves and others, to ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained.

Who SUS is for SUS provides data for the purpose of healthcare analysis to the NHS, government and others including:

The Secondary Users Service (SUS) database is made up of many data items relating to A&E care delivered by NHS hospitals in England. Many of these items form part of the national Commissioning Data Set (CDS), and are generated by the patient administration systems within each hospital. 1. national bodies and regulators, such as the Department of Health, NHS England, Public Health England, NHS Improvement and the CQC 2. local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) 3. provider organisations 4. government departments 5. researchers and commercial healthcare bodies 6. National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) 7. patients, service users and carers 8. the media

Uses of the statistics The statistics are known to be used for: 1. national policy making 2. benchmarking performance against other hospital providers or CCGs
3. academic research 4. analysing service usage and planning change 5. providing advice to ministers and answering a wide range of parliamentary questions 6. national and local press articles 7. international comparison

More information can be found at https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/hospital-episode-statistics https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-accident--emergency-activity"

Hospital Admissions for Females who have disease of the digestive system in the year 2010.

(C) Crown copyright, 2013. Data supplied by Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics Website

Counts and rates of deaths and hospital admissions associated with temperature for England and Wales from 2001 to 2020.