• The Department of Health requires performance management information on Out-Patient Waiting List stocks within a specified REPORTING PERIOD.

• The Department of Health uses the information to help monitor national WAITING LIST trends. These are used to develop policies and indicate changes which can enable the WAITING LISTS to be managed more effectively.

• This central information collection requirement is both:

• provider based and is submitted by provider NHS Trusts and provider Primary Care Trusts regardless of where PATIENTS live.

  and

  commissioner based and is the aggregation of commissioned PATIENT activity delivered by provider NHS Trusts and provider Primary Care Trusts.

• Each submission will be from one ORGANISATION in the role of provider or commissioner and should only contain data appropriate to that role i.e. must not contain a mixture of commissioning and provider role data.

COMMISSIONER OR PROVIDER STATUS INDICATOR indicates whether it is a submission from the ORGANISATION in the role of commissioner of care or provider of care.

Out-Patient Stocks

• The collection data is sub grouped by MAIN SPECIALTY CODE. Where no stocks data for a MAIN SPECIALTY CODE is present within the REPORTING PERIOD then no out-patient stock sub group should be recorded for it. Only one sub group is permitted per MAIN SPECIALTY CODE.

• The collection is for all GENERAL PRACTITIONER written referrals, whether from doctor or dentists, for a first Out-Patient Appointment Consultant where the first Out-Patient Attendance Consultant has not yet taken place and the period between the receipt of the referral and the REPORTING PERIOD END DATE by specified waiting time band.

• It includes private PATIENTS and PATIENTS who are Overseas Visitors.

Data collection

• The NHS report data sets to the Department of Health monthly and quarterly via Unify2, an online data collection system. Trusts and Primary Care Trusts can either enter data directly onto Unify2, or upload from spreadsheets provided to ease data input.

• These returns flow through Strategic Health Authorities, and require their sign off before they are accessed by the Department of Health.

• Data providers are required to submit data by the 15th working day following the month end, with publication being on the Friday following the 20th working day after month end.