Emergency Department Analysis
In order to create an Emergency Department Analysis with the Performance Toolkit you will have to import a patient-level data file that meets a certain set of specifications. This section will provide you with the necessary information to successfully set up such a file.
The setup of your file will look similar to the example extract below.
The next few bullet points form a short summary of the data set requirements; the following sections explain each point in more detail.
The Performance Toolkit only accepts comma-separated value files, referred to as CSV files. Most commonly you will set up your CSV file in one of two ways:
You can follow this link to learn more about importing and exporting CSV files by using Microsoft Excel.
The CSV file has to contain seven columns in the order specified below. The permissible values for each column are either free text or defined in accordance with the A&E data recording manual, AE2, published by Information Services Scotland (October 2013, version 2). The required columns are summarized in the table below.
Field Name |
Description |
Defined By |
Hospital Name |
Name of Hospital |
Local |
Row Identifier |
Unique identification of data set row |
Local |
Arrival Date & Time |
Date and tmie of arrival at ED |
ISD: AE2 |
Discharge Date & Time |
Date and time of discharge from ED |
ISD: AE2 |
Patient Flow |
Flow group of patient |
ISD: AE2 |
Breach Reason |
Reason for ED wait > 4 hours |
ISD: AE2 |
Discharge Destination |
Destination of discharge from ED |
ISD: AE2 |
Several data quality checks will be executed upon import of the data file to the Performance Toolkit. Data rows that do not pass these checks will be highlighted and omitted from analysis. To correct invalid data items you are able to export your data set with additional columns that indicate whether the data rows have passed validation.
The AE2 data recording manual defines the Arrival Date & Time as “the date & time of arrival of a patient at an A&E department. If the patient arrives by ambulance or air ambulance (with or without an A&E Retrieval Team) this will be taken from the ambulance data, otherwise this is when the patient arrives at A&E reception.”
Whereas the Discharge Date & Time is defined as “the date and time that a patient leaves the A&E department after an A&E attendance has concluded and/or the department is no longer responsible for the care of the patient.”
The Performance Toolkit accepts DateTime values in any of the en-GB culture formats shown in the below table. You can follow this link to learn more about how to set a custom number format in Excel.
Excel Custom Format |
Example Output |
dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm |
28 August 2014 12:28 |
dd MMMM yyyy H:mm |
28 August 2014 12:28 |
dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm tt |
28 August 2014 12:28 PM |
dd MMMM yyyy h:mm tt |
28 August 2014 12:28 PM |
d MMMM yyyy HH:mm |
28 August 2014 12:28 |
d MMMM yyyy H:mm |
28 August 2014 12:28 |
d MMMM yyyy hh:mm tt |
28 August 2014 12:28 PM |
d MMMM yyyy h:mm tt |
28 August 2014 12:28 PM |
dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 |
dd MMMM yyyy H:mm:ss |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 |
dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss tt |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 PM |
dd MMMM yyyy h:mm:ss tt |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 PM |
d MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 |
d MMMM yyyy H:mm:ss |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 |
d MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss tt |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 PM |
d MMMM yyyy h:mm:ss tt |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 PM |
dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm |
28/08/2014 12:28 |
dd/MM/yyyy H:mm |
28/08/2014 12:28 |
dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm tt |
28/08/2014 12:28 PM |
dd/MM/yyyy h:mm tt |
28/08/2014 12:28 PM |
dd/MM/yy HH:mm |
28/08/14 12:28 |
dd/MM/yy H:mm |
28/08/14 12:28 |
dd/MM/yy hh:mm tt |
28/08/14 12:28 PM |
dd/MM/yy h:mm tt |
28/08/14 12:28 PM |
d/M/yy HH:mm |
28/8/14 12:28 |
d/M/yy H:mm |
28/8/14 12:28 |
d/M/yy hh:mm tt |
28/8/14 12:28 PM |
d/M/yy h:mm tt |
28/8/14 12:28 PM |
d.M.yy HH:mm |
28.8.14 12:28 |
d.M.yy H:mm |
28.8.14 12:28 |
d.M.yy hh:mm tt |
28.8.14 12:28 PM |
d.M.yy h:mm tt |
28.8.14 12:28 PM |
yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm |
2014-08-28 12:28 |
yyyy-MM-dd H:mm |
2014-08-28 12:28 |
yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm tt |
2014-08-28 12:28 PM |
yyyy-MM-dd h:mm tt |
2014-08-28 12:28 PM |
dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss |
28/08/2014 12:28:30 |
dd/MM/yyyy H:mm:ss |
28/08/2014 12:28:30 |
dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt |
28/08/2014 12:28:30 PM |
dd/MM/yyyy h:mm:ss tt |
28/08/2014 12:28:30 PM |
dd/MM/yy HH:mm:ss |
28/08/14 12:28:30 |
dd/MM/yy H:mm:ss |
28/08/14 12:28:30 |
dd/MM/yy hh:mm:ss tt |
28/08/14 12:28:30 PM |
dd/MM/yy h:mm:ss tt |
28/08/14 12:28:30 PM |
d/M/yy HH:mm:ss |
28/8/14 12:28:30 |
d/M/yy H:mm:ss |
28/8/14 12:28:30 |
d/M/yy hh:mm:ss tt |
28/8/14 12:28:30 PM |
d/M/yy h:mm:ss tt |
28/8/14 12:28:30 PM |
d.M.yy HH:mm:ss |
28.8.14 12:28:30 |
d.M.yy H:mm:ss |
28.8.14 12:28:30 |
d.M.yy hh:mm:ss tt |
28.8.14 12:28:30 PM |
d.M.yy h:mm:ss tt |
28.8.14 12:28:30 PM |
yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss |
2014-08-28 12:28:30 |
yyyy-MM-dd H:mm:ss |
2014-08-28 12:28:30 |
yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss tt |
2014-08-28 12:28:30 PM |
yyyy-MM-dd h:mm:ss tt |
2014-08-28 12:28:30 PM |
yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss.fffffffK |
2014-08-28T12:28:30.0000000 |
yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss.fffffffK |
2014-08-28T12:28:30.0000000 |
ddd, dd MMM yyyy HH':'mm':'ss 'GMT' |
Thu, 28 Aug 2014 12:28:30 GMT |
ddd, dd MMM yyyy HH':'mm':'ss 'GMT' |
Thu, 28 Aug 2014 12:28:30 GMT |
yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss |
2014-08-28T12:28:30 |
yyyy'-'MM'-'dd HH':'mm':'ss'Z' |
2014-08-28 12:28:30Z |
dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 |
dd MMMM yyyy H:mm:ss |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 |
dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss tt |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 PM |
dd MMMM yyyy h:mm:ss tt |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 PM |
d MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 |
d MMMM yyyy H:mm:ss |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 |
d MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss tt |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 PM |
d MMMM yyyy h:mm:ss tt |
28 August 2014 12:28:30 PM |
The Patient Flow Group is defined as “a data item created by the Unscheduled Care Collaborative to analyse the flow of patients through the Emergency Department and Acute Medical Units/Assessment Units.” The import procedures accept values from the National Code column and may be prefixed by an apostrophe, a leading zero, or an apostrophe and a leading zero.
National Code |
Value |
1 |
Flow 1 (Minor injury & illness) |
2 |
Flow 2 (Acute assessment) |
3 |
Flow 3 (Medical admissions) |
4 |
Flow 4 (Surgical admissions) |
5 |
Flow 5 (Out of hospital care) |
The Breach Reason column is defined as “the reason(s) for keeping the patient in the A&E department if the patient spends longer than 4 hours between arriving at the A&E department and admission, discharge or transfer.” The import procedures accept values from the National Code column and may be prefixed by an apostrophe, a leading zero, or an apostrophe and a leading zero.
National Code |
Value |
00 |
No delay |
01 |
Wait for bed |
02 |
Wait for transport |
03 |
Wait for specialist |
03A |
Wait for orthopaedics |
03B |
Wait for medical specialty |
03C |
Wait for mental health/psychiatrist |
04 |
Wait for initial A&E treatment(s) |
04A |
Wait for initial A&E treatment to commence |
04B |
Wait for initial A&E treatment to be completed |
05 |
Wait for diagnostic test(s) |
05A |
Wait for diagnostic test(s) to be performed |
05B |
Wait for results of diagnostic test(s) |
06 |
Wait for first assessment |
07 |
Wait for clinical reason(s) |
08 |
Major incident |
98 |
Other reason |
99 |
Not known |
The Discharge Destination column is defined as “the immediate destination of the patient on discharge from the A&E department.” The import procedures accept values from the National Code column and may be prefixed by an apostrophe, a leading zero, or an apostrophe and a leading zero.
National Code |
Value |
00 |
Death |
01 |
Private residence |
01A |
Usual place of residence |
01B |
Not usual place of residence |
02 |
Residential institution |
02A |
Usual place of residence |
02B |
Not usual place of residence |
03 |
Temporary residence |
03A |
Holiday accommodation |
03B |
Student accommodation |
03C |
Legal establishment/prison |
03D |
No fixed abode |
03Z |
Other temporary residence |
04 |
Admission tos ame NHS healthcare provder/hospital |
04A |
A&E ward |
04B |
Assessment unit |
04C |
Medical ward |
04D |
Surgical ward |
04Z |
Other ward |
05 |
Transfer to same/other hospital |
05A |
Psychiatric hospital |
05B |
Other specialist centre |
05C |
Community hospital |
05D |
Transferred to Out of Hours (triaged in A&E) |
05E |
Transfered to Out of Hours (not triaged in (A&E) |
05F |
Advised to attend GP/Primary Care |
05G |
A&E |
05H |
Referred to NHS24 |
05Z |
Other NHS Hospital |
06 |
Private healthcare provider |
98 |
Other |
99 |
Not known |