Emergency Care Data Set

The Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) is the national data set for urgent and emergency care. It allows for:

• the capture of information about:
  • the complexity and acuity of attending patients
  • the causes of rising demand
  • the value added by emergency departments
• the capture of diagnostic data to ensure an enhanced understanding of need, activity and outcomes
• consistent monitoring of data across local and national initiatives
• support for injury surveillance, such that it will be possible to identify patterns that may be amenable to targeted interventions and improved public health.

This helps to:

• improve patient care through better and more consistent information
• allow better planning of healthcare services
• improve communication between health professionals.

This Notice is served on:

• All organisations providing publicly funded Urgent and Emergency Care Services
  • including (but not limited to) all integrated care organisations providing publicly funded Urgent and Emergency Care Services to NHS England. 

The Emergency Care Data Set was introduced from October 2017 as a replacement for CDS Type 010 (Accident and Emergency). Implementation has been phased across different emergency types and settings.

This DPN introduces Version 4.0 of the Emergency Care Data Set which is live from 1 July 2023. Providers can continue to submit Version 3.0 data but must be conformant with Version 4.0 no later than 1 July 2024.

Both Versions require that data must be submitted on a daily basis.

29 November 2023: This version has been updated for the implementation of ECDS Diagnosis Max; a significantly expanded list of diagnosis codes which allows greater accuracy in recording diagnosis and supports new models of care being introduced, such as Same Day Emergency Care

20 June 2023: This Notice has been updated to introduce Version 4.0 of ECDS and reinforce the current submission of Version 3.0 data.