Publication of the Annual Northern Ireland Acute Episode-Based Activity Statistics for 2024/25
Date published:
The Department of Health has published the Northern Ireland Acute Episode-Based Activity Statistics for 2024/25.
The purpose of this publication is to complement data contained in the Northern Ireland Hospital Statistics: Inpatient and Day Case Activity (2024/25) publication, issued on 7 August 2025, and available on the DoH website at:
https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/inpatient-and-day-case-activity
While the Northern Ireland Hospital Statistics: Inpatient and Day Case Activity (2024/25) publication is based on admissions to hospitals, this publication is based on finished consultant episodes (FCEs). A patient may have more than one FCE during one admission to hospital.
The Acute Episode-Based Activity Statistics show detailed analysis at specialty, diagnosis, procedure and healthcare resource group levels within the Acute Programme of Care (PoC 1). Episode-based data in Northern Ireland can be compared with the equivalent Hospital Episode Statistics published annually in England.
Key facts and figures for Northern Ireland Acute Episode-Based Activity Statistics for 2024/25:
Number of finished consultant episodes within the acute programme of care
- In 2024/25, there were 636,338 Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) in Northern Ireland hospitals within the Acute Programme of Care, a decrease of 0.6% on the previous year (640,099 in 2023/24) and an increase of 28.1% on the 496,628 recorded in 2020/21.
- Of the 636,338 FCEs during 2024/25, almost a third, 198,483 (31.2%) were admitted for day case treatment. Over the last five years, the number of day case episodes has increased by 93.1% from 102,773 in 2020/21 to 198,483 in 2024/25. Over the same period, the number of inpatient episodes increased by 17.1% from 295,764 in 2020/21 to 346,318 in 2024/25.
- The average length of an inpatient episode was 3.8 days in 2024/25; an increase from 3.2 days in 2020/21.
High Volume Activity:
This activity relates to the most frequently recorded diagnosis of patients admitted to hospital, and the most common procedures carried out in Health and Social Care (HSC) Hospitals.
- In 2024/25, the most frequently recorded primary diagnosis was chronic kidney disease with a total of 77,366 FCEs (12.2%).
- In 2024/25, compensation for renal failure was the most frequently recorded main procedure (77,801).
Topical Information Areas:
These are the areas most frequently requested by customers, including researchers and the general public.
- In 2024/25, there were 76,259 FCEs where a diagnosis of cancer or other neoplasm was recorded as the primary diagnosis – a decrease of 10.3% when compared to 2023/24 (84,974) and an increase of 20.0% when compared to 2020/21 (63,560).
- Over the same period, there has been a rise by 81.5% (increasing from 23,562 in 2020/21 to 42,773 in 2024/25) in the number of FCEs where the primary diagnosis recorded was influenza, pneumonia, etc.
- FCEs where a diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease was recorded in a primary position, have increased by 13.0% from 11,254 recorded in 2020/21 to 12,717 recorded in 2024/25.
- There has been a rise in the number of FCEs where a hip procedure was the primary intervention, from 1,538 in 2020/21 to 2,866 in 2024/25 – an increase of 86.3%.
Notes to editors:
- All published hospital inpatient activity data is available online:
- Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Hospital Activity: www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/dhssps-statistics-and-research/hospital-activity-statistics
- When interpreting the statistics presented in this report, consideration should be given to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on hospital services. Users should be aware that the pandemic drastically altered the functions of hospitals during the reporting period, including the availability and location of services. This has had a direct impact on the activity observed. 2024/25 data can be compared with previous years, but users should bear in mind that many of the changes observed, against 2020/21 in particular, will be influenced by and attributable to the impact of COVID-19.
- Encompass: Encompass is a new electronic patient record system creates a single digital care record for every citizen in Northern Ireland who receives health and social care. It aims to create better experiences for patients, service users and staff by bringing together information from various existing systems that did not previously communicate effectively. The programme was first introduced in the South Eastern HSC Trust on 9th November 2023. The system also went live in Belfast HSC Trust on 6 June 2024, and Northern HSC Trust on 7 November 2024. Its roll out to the final two HSC Trusts was in the following financial year 2025/26. Further information can be found at: https://dhcni.hscni.net/digital-portfolio/encompass/. Due to a change in the reporting of specialties on encompass, from 2023/24 the report contains two specialty tables. Volume 1a – Specialty contains data from the legacy system, where this specialty represents the main specialty of the leading consultant in charge of the patient’s care. Volume 1b – Specialty contains data from encompass, where this specialty represents what the patient is being treated for. Information and Analysis Directorate (IAD) alongside encompass are exploring the most appropriate method to generate Healthcare Resource Group (HRG) codes for encompass data. This is still in development, and therefore South Eastern HSC Trust HRG data, Belfast HSC Trust HRG data from 6 June 2024, and Northern HSC Trust HRG data from 7 November 2024 has been excluded from this section of the publication.
- About the data: A consultant episode is the time a patient spends in the continuous care of one consultant. The episode can be finished because of discharge, death or transfer to another consultant or another hospital. As a result, a patient may have more than one FCE during one admission to hospital (if transferred to the care of another consultant). In the legacy system, transfers to any other hospital would have created a new FCE. However, to date in encompass this is not split out for transfers between hospitals within the same HSC Trust. This will be amended for episodes ending after 1 January 2026 so a new FCE is once again created for all transfers to another hospital. Episode-based data is used to perform detailed analysis at diagnostic and procedure level, which may vary between each of the episodes that form an admission. Episode data is used to answer Assembly/Parliamentary questions, ad-hoc queries and for financial analysis. In addition, episode-based data in Northern Ireland can be compared with the equivalent Hospital Episode Statistics data published annually in England. Inpatient and day case episode data for all specialties within the acute services programme of care is collated monthly in the Hospital Inpatient System (HIS). This is sourced from both the Business Objects data warehouse Patient Administration System, and encompass (for South Eastern HSC Trust from 9th November 2023, Belfast HSC Trust from 6th June 2024, and Northern HSC Trust from 7 November 2024). Each record within the HIS relates to an individual consultant episode and records details such as the date the patient was admitted, the diagnosis of the patient and any interventions/procedures the patient underwent. The total number of bed days has been calculated using the episode duration field within the Hospital Inpatient System; this is in contrast to the Northern Ireland Hospital Statistics: Inpatient and Day Case Activity Statistics (2024/25) publication, which uses bed occupancy data from the KH03a aggregate return, alongside total inpatient figures. All data published from 2008/09 excludes Independent Sector activity carried out within HSC Hospitals. HoPrior to this year, Independent Sector activity was included.
- Definitions: Finished Consultant Episode: A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a period spent by a patient under the care of one consultant. The episode can be finished because of discharge, death or transfer to another consultant or another hospital. As a result, a patient may have more than one FCE during one admission to hospital (if transferred to the care of another consultant). In the legacy system, transfers to any other hospital would have created a new FCE. However, to date in encompass this is not split out for transfers between hospitals within the same HSC Trust. This will be amended for episodes ending after 1 January 2026 so a new FCE is once again created for all transfers to another hospital. Admission: Admissions include both inpatient (elective and non-elective) and day case (including regular attender) activity. These are approximated using deaths and discharges and therefore recorded within the period where the discharge occurred. On the legacy system, transfers between any hospitals would have counted as a discharge and new admission. However, on encompass, this is no longer the case for transfers between hospitals within the same HSC Trust, where they are treated as one continuous admission.
- This information was collated by Hospital Activity Information Branch, DoH. Further information is available from: Hospital Activity Information Branch, Department of Health Annexe 2, Castle Buildings, Stormont, BT4 3SQ Telephone: 028 90 522800 E-mail: statistics@health-ni.gov.uk Internet https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/doh-statistics-and-research
- For media enquiries please contact DoH Press Office by email: pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk
- Follow us on X @healthdpt and linkedIn Department of Health NI | LinkedIn
- The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service For Media Enquiries Only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.