Skip to main content
  1. NHS Digital
  2. Right arrow icon About NHS Digital
  3. Right arrow icon Our work
  4. Right arrow icon Keeping patient data safe
  5. Right arrow icon GDPR
  6. Right arrow icon GDPR register
  7. Right arrow icon Hospital Episode Statistics: GDPR
  8. Right arrow icon Hospital Episode Statistics (HES): GDPR information

Hospital Episode Statistics: GDPR information

Summary

Why and how we process your data within Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) services, and your rights.

Controller NHS Digital
How we use the information (processing activities) Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data is administrative and clinical data including data on operations and diagnosis. It's collected from providers of NHS funded hospital care and is used to analyse hospital activity for monitoring and improving the management of health and care services. NHS Digital collects the data and undertakes data quality activity before making the data available to care providers, Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs), approved NHS Commissioners, and other interested parties. Also used to prepare and publish a range of statistical publications.
Does this contain sensitive (special category) data such as health information? Yes
Who are recipients of this data?

Patient Level Information Costings System (PLICS) dataset, Medication Safety: Prescribing Dataset, See Data Release Register
Is data transferred outside the UK? Within Europe
How long the data is kept 8 years minimum after no longer required
Our lawful basis for holding this data Legal obligation
Your rights
  • Tick Be informed
  • Tick Get access to it
  • Tick Rectify or change it
  • Cross Erase or remove it
  • Tick Restrict or stop processing it
  • Cross Move, copy or transfer it
  • Cross Object to it being processed or used
  • Cross Know if a decision was made by a computer rather than a person
How can you withdraw your consent?

Consent not the basis for processing
Is the data subject to decisions made solely by computers? (automated decision making) No
Where does this data come from? SUS + dataset
The legal basis for collecting this data

Legal obligation (Direction) and management of health and social care systems

Where NHS Digital uses this data

internal

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) is a data warehouse containing details of all admissions, outpatient appointments and A and E attendances at NHS hospitals in England.