Release Of Northern Ireland Inpatient, Day Case and Outpatient Hospital Statistics for 2025/26

1. Publication of Northern Ireland Hospital Statistics: Inpatient and Outpatient Activity 2025/26

• Information & Analysis Directorate (DoH) publish annual data relating to (i) Inpatient and Day Case Activity; (ii) Outpatient Activity and (iii) Emergency Care Activity.
• This statistical press release relates to the publication of the two Accredited Official Statistics publications containing data relating to (i) Inpatient and Day Case Activity and (ii) Outpatient Activity. Data relating to Emergency Care Activity was published on 8th July 2026.

2. Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Hospital Activity

• When interpreting the time series 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 particularly during 2020/21, including the availability and location of services. This has had a direct impact on the activity observed during that year.
• Data from 2025/26 can be compared with previous years, but users should bear in mind that some of the changes observed from 2020/21 will be influenced by and attributable to the impact of COVID-19.

3. Encompass

• Encompass is a new electronic patient record system, creating 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 do not currently communicate effectively. The programme was first introduced in the South Eastern HSCT on 9th November 2023, followed by Belfast HSCT on 6th June 2024, Northern HSCT on 7th November 2024 and the Southern and Western HSCTs on 8th May 2025. Further information can be found at: https://dhcni.hscni.net/digital-portfolio/encompass/.

Data definitions

Inpatient and Day Case Activity

• Inpatient Admission:

Inpatient admissions include both (a) patients admitted electively with the expectation that they will remain in hospital for at least one night, and (b) non-elective admissions (e.g. emergency admissions). A patient who is admitted with the intention of staying overnight but who leaves hospital for any reason without staying overnight is still counted as an inpatient. Day cases and regular attenders are not included. Inpatients are approximated using deaths and discharges and therefore counted within the time period of their discharge and under their final specialty before discharge. On encompass, transfers within the same HSC Trust are no longer counted as multiple admissions as they were within the legacy system but are recorded as a transfer and therefore only one admission and discharge. However, a transfer from an acute hospital to a mental health hospital is treated as a new admission. For encompass transfers from 9 November 2023 to 31 March 2025, patients were counted under the hospital of their first admission. For encompass transfers from 1 April 2025, patients were counted under the discharging hospital. Please note, encompass transfers to a community programme of care are not included and this whole admission will not be counted due to current report developments.
Day Case:

A patient admitted electively during the course of a day with the intention of receiving care who does not require the use of a hospital bed overnight and who returns home as scheduled. If this original intention is not fulfilled, and the patient stays overnight, such a patient should be counted as an inpatient. Regular attenders have been included within the day case statistics for all programmes of care but presented separately for the acute programme of care.

• Average Available/Occupied Beds:

The average number of available and occupied beds during the year in wards that are open overnight, measured at midnight. Beds reserved for day care admission or regular day admission are not included. Previous to encompass, occupied beds were counted under the main specialty of the lead consultant at the time of the count, however, in encompass, they are counted under the Treatment Function Code (TFC) that the patient is being treated for at the time of the count. In encompass, escalation spaces are now included in the total occupied bed count. Only beds used for consultant-led care are included.

Outpatient Activity

• Outpatient

A patient who attends a clinic to see a consultant, a member of their team, or a locum for such a member.

• Outpatient Did Not Attend – DNA

DNA refers to the number of patients with an appointment who did not attend and failed to give advance warning to the hospital. This includes patients who cancelled their outpatient appointment on the same day on which the appointment was scheduled. The DNA rate is calculated by taking the number of missed appointments (DNAs) as a rate of the sum of the total number of attendances and missed appointments. 

• Appointment cancelled by patient – CNA

A patient cancellation refers to an appointment that was intended to be held but was cancelled by the patient, with the patient contacting the hospital no later than the day before the appointment is scheduled and informing the hospital that they are unable to attend the scheduled appointment. The CNA rate is calculated by taking the number of patient cancellations (CNAs) as a rate of the sum of the total number of attendances and patient cancellations.

• Appointment cancelled by the hospital

An appointment that was intended to be held, but which did not occur, due to circumstances within the hospital. Appointments may be cancelled by the hospital for a variety of reasons. These include, in order to reschedule the appointment to an alternative date and due to the unavailability of the consultant. The hospital cancellation rate is calculated by taking the number of appointments cancelled by hospitals as a rate of the sum of the total number of attendances and appointments cancelled by hospitals.

• Note: The number of attendances does not equate to the number of individual patients seen, as it is possible for the same person to attend a consultant led outpatient service more than once during the year. This is the same when looking at missed and cancelled appointments, as it is possible for the same person to miss or cancel their appointment or have their appointment cancelled by the hospital more than once during the year.

Day Case Procedure Centre (DPC)

• In October 2016 the then Health Minister launched ‘Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together,’ a strategy which underpins the Northern Ireland Executive’s draft Programme for Government ambition to support people to lead long, healthy and active lives.
• As part of this strategy, the Elective Care Plan was published in February 2017, which stated that ‘Regional Elective Care Assessment and Treatment Centres (now known as Day Case Procedure Centres - DPCs will be established to deliver large volumes of assessments and non-complex routine surgery across a broad range of specialties.’ In February 2019, prototype DPCs became operational for the surgical treatment of Cataracts. Patients waiting for these procedures can now be referred to a DPC for treatment rather than attend the hospital site they may have been referred to previously. Varicose Vein treatment is now also offered within a DPC.

Integrated Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services (ICATS)

• ICATS is the term used for a range of outpatient services for patients, which are provided by integrated multi-disciplinary teams of health service professionals, including GPs with a special interest, specialist nurses and allied health professionals. They are provided in a variety of primary, community and secondary care settings and they include assessment, treatment, diagnostic and advisory services.
• ICATS Appointment

An ICATS Tier 2 appointment is a non consultant outpatient appointment. Following ICATS Triage, patients who have not been given either a discharge, advice only or referral incomplete outcome will proceed for either a (i) first outpatient appointment, (ii) a diagnostic test or (iii) an ICATS Tier 2 appointment. Following a first Tier 2 ICATS appointment there are a number of outcomes, including a review Tier 2 ICATS appointment or a referral for a first consultant led outpatient appointment. 

• ICATS Tier 2 appointments attended, those missed by patients (DNA), cancelled by patients (CNA) or cancelled by the hospital (Hospital Cancellations) are defined similarly to those for consultant led outpatient services. Reasons for cancellation of ICATS Tier 2 appointments are not currently collected by the Department.

Virtual Activity

• A virtual outpatient appointment is a planned contact by a healthcare professional responsible for the care of a patient for the purposes of clinical consultation, advice and treatment planning. Virtual appointments may take the form of a telephone contact, video-link intervention, an email or a letter.

4. This information was collated by Hospital Activity Information Branch, DoH.

5. Further information is available from:

Hospital Activity Information Branch,
Department of Health
Annex 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

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