If you have received HES data (as extracts) before June 2021 and are requesting further HES data, you will receive a HES Person ID bridge file to enable you to attribute TOKEN_PERSON_ID to any historic data you hold. There is no intention to re-supply any HES data provided prior to June 2021.
If you received provisional HES data prior to the April to July 2021 year to date provisional HES data release in September 2021 then you will not receive a bridge file for this activity as this activity will be superseded with a year to date extract containing the new person identifier covering the the April to July 2021 year to date provisional HES data release in September 2021 onwards.
If you did not previously receive HES_ID the assumption will be that you also do not require TOKEN_PERSON_ID, unless you tell us otherwise during your application process in which case you will need to make an amendment to your application. You will continue to receive your local identifier or Study_ID to track patients as before.
HES admitted patient care bridge files are linkable to historical HES admitted patient care data using the EPIKEY field.
HES outpatient bridge files are linkable to historical HES outpatient data using the ATTENDKEY field. HES accident and emergency bridge files are linkable to historical HES accident and emergency data using the AEKEY field.
This will be supplied on a case by case basis, allowing you to assign TOKEN_PERSON_ID to your historical data, in place of HES_ID. From 2021/22 onwards data will be supplied with TOKEN_PERSON_ID so no further bridge files will be supplied.
If you receive new copies of historical HES data frequently, you will not need the bridge file as these will be supplied with TOKEN_PERSON_ID in future. You will therefore have a consistent person identifier (TOKEN_PERSON_ID) across all data years.