Accident and Emergency Attendance

An Accident and Emergency Attendance is a CARE CONTACT.

An Accident and Emergency Attendance is an individual visit by one PATIENT to an Accident and Emergency Department to receive treatment from the accident and emergency service.

Note that the accident and emergency service may be provided by staff from other MAIN SPECIALTY.

During an Accident and Emergency Attendance the PATIENT may temporarily leave the Accident and Emergency Department, e.g. for an X-ray, whilst still under the responsibility of the Accident and Emergency Department.

An Accident and Emergency Attendance may be as a result of a request from a GENERAL PRACTITIONER for help with a diagnosis or treatment.

Attendances at Out-Patient Clinic run in the Accident and Emergency Department should not be recorded as Accident and Emergency Attendance but should be recorded as Out-Patient Attendance Consultant or Clinic Attendance Non-Consultant depending upon the type of Out-Patient Clinic attended.

Any facility set up to receive and treat emergency cases is regarded as an Accident and Emergency Department for this purpose.

Accident and Emergency Attendances include both first and follow-up attendances. A follow-up attendance is any subsequent Accident and Emergency Attendance at the same Accident and Emergency Department for the same incident. All attendances for the same incident will constitute an Accident and Emergency Episode.

Each Accident and Emergency Attendance, which is a first attendance or an unplanned follow-up attendance, should be assigned an A AND E STREAM.

Any PATIENT diagnoses and interventions should be recorded using the A & E specific codes, see ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DIAGNOSIS, ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY INVESTIGATION and ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY TREATMENT.