Introduction
- This guidance explains the circumstances under which Hospital Provider Spells should close and reopen as a result of a merger or demerger, in terms of NHS data standards. It specifies which codes should be used for those Hospital Provider Spells which must be closed and reopened for:
- DISCHARGE DESTINATION etc, for the closing Hospital Provider Spell and
- SOURCE OF ADMISSION etc, for the new Hospital Provider Spell.
- A Hospital Provider Spell is provided by one ORGANISATION acting as a Health Care Provider. This means that the spell is linked to the ORGANISATION CODE of the provider. If the ORGANISATION CODE changes, the spell must end and another begin with the new ORGANISATION CODE. If the spell does end, the Consultant Episode (Hospital Provider) within the spell must also end.
The following scenarios explain what this means in terms of ORGANISATION mergers or demergers. Note that these assume that nothing changes other than the fact that the ORGANISATIONS merge or demerge, e.g. the CONSULTANT stays the same, etc.
- Trust A merges with Trust B to produce Trust C, which has a new ORGANISATION CODE. The ORGANISATION CODE will change for both Trust A and B. Therefore Hospital Provider Spells in both Trust A and B should close, and new spells should be opened using the new ORGANISATION CODE for Trust C.
- Trust A merges with Trust B to produce an ORGANISATION which uses Trust A's ORGANISATION CODE. For those Hospital Provider Spells in Trust A, the ORGANISATION CODE will not change. Therefore Trust A's Hospital Provider Spells should not be closed just as a result of the merger. However, for Trust B the ORGANISATION CODE will change. Therefore Hospital Provider Spells in Trust B should close, and new spells should be opened using the new ORGANISATION CODE for Trust A.
- Trust A splits into Trust B and Trust C, both of which have a new ORGANISATION CODE. The ORGANISATION CODE will change for both Trust B and C. Therefore all Hospital Provider Spells in Trust A should close, and new spells should be opened in Trust B and C using the new ORGANISATION CODES for each.
- Trust A splits into Trust B and C. Trust B retains Trust A's ORGANISATION CODE and Trust C is issued with a new one. The ORGANISATION CODE for Hospital Provider Spells in Trust A which are taken over by Trust B will not change. Therefore they should not be closed just as a result of the merger. However, Trust A's Hospital Provider Spells which are taken over by Trust C should close, and new spells should be opened using the new ORGANISATION CODE for Trust C.
- If Hospital Provider Spells are to be closed and reopened only as a result of Organisation Mergers or demergers, for most cases the codes below should be used.
This depends on the type of WARD the PATIENT is in, but will be either:
- 53 NHS other Hospital Provider - WARD for PATIENTS who are mentally ill or have learning disabilities
- 1 PATIENT discharged on clinical advice or with clinical consent
- 81 Transfer of any admitted PATIENT from other Hospital Provider other than in an emergency
Note that this ADMISSION METHOD is classed under "Other Admission". It is not elective and the PATIENT does therefore not have an entry on an Elective Admission List.SOURCE OF ADMISSION
Again, this depends on the type of WARD the PATIENT is in, but will be either:
- 51 NHS other Hospital Provider - WARD for general PATIENTS or the younger physically disabled or Accident and Emergency Department
- 52 NHS other Hospital Provider - WARD for maternity PATIENTS or Neonates
- 53 NHS other Hospital Provider - WARD for PATIENTS who are mentally ill or have learning disabilities
This will be the referrer to the Hospital Provider Spell within which the PATIENT was receiving care before the merger, i.e. the "original" Hospital Provider Spell.
Guidance for Merging Organisations to support Sending of Commissioning Data Sets to the Secondary Uses Service
The Secondary Uses Service have published information regarding issues that may affect the approach to submitting data to the Secondary Uses Service. The guidance is available in the section "How do I send data to SUS?" at: Guidance and other useful documents.