This data element is mandatory for PATIENTS referred urgently by their GENERAL PRACTITIONER for suspected cancer but can also be applied to other PATIENTS.

The date will be one of the following, whichever is the earliest SERVICE relating to the REFERRAL REQUEST:

• first Out-Patient Appointment; this is the Attendance Date of the first Out-Patient Attendance Consultant
• first diagnostic procedure if this precedes the first Out-Patient Appointment; this is the first Clinical Intervention Date of the Imaging or Radiodiagnostic Event or CLINICAL INTERVENTION
• first seen as an emergency; this is the Start Date of the Hospital Provider Spell or the Arrival Date of the Accident and Emergency Attendance
• the date the PATIENT was first seen following referral (or recall) from (or by) a Screening Unit

Date First Seen may not be the same as FIRST SEEN BY SPECIALIST DATE (CANCER) which records the first time the PATIENT sees an appropriate specialist in cancer care.

This data element is also known by these names:

Context	Alias
plural	DATES FIRST SEEN