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Out of area hospitalisations - the view from current routine statistics

University of Durham, 15 Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HL

Jonathan Bindman, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry

Health Services Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF

AIMS AND METHOD

To examine what current routine statistics could show about the extent to which patients are admitted to hospital beds ‘out of area’, a quality indicator proposed in the National Service Framework.

RESULTS

Available data record that, on average, at least 6.9% of acute general psychiatry admissions in the English NHS happen outside the normal catchment area arrangement of a patient's health authority. However, deficiencies in the calculation — arising from lack of data, mainly about private sector admissions — and the absence of a central registry of NHS trust catchment areas suggest this is a substantial underestimate.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

The most useful way for this issue to be examined is from year to year for individual trusts.

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