WHO European health information at your fingertips.

Export to:

A critical error happened while trying to prepare the export files. Sorry for the inconvenience, the support team is already notified about this issue. Please try again later.

See full graph

Back to preview

Data set notes

European Health for All database

Indicators: 565

Updated: 18 October 2024

Contact: Data and Digital Health Unit (DDH)

The following abbreviations are used in the indicator titles:

• SDR: age-standardized death rates (see HFA-DB user manual/Technical notes, page 13, for details)

• FTE: full-time equivalent

• PP: physical persons

• PPP$: purchasing power parities expressed in US $, an internationally comparable scale reflecting the relative domestic purchasing powers of currencies.

More information: http://www.euro.who.int/en/data-and-evidence/databases/european-health-for-all-database-hfa-db

Indicator notes

Number of all hospital discharges
Indicator code: E992952.T

Admission is the hospitalization of a patient in an inpatient facility normally involving a stay of at least 24 hours. In the case of death or discharge to another health establishment, the actual stay may be shorter than 24 hours. These cases are registered as a one-day hospitalization. Discharge is the conclusion of a period of inpatient care, whether the patient returned to his home, was transferred to another inpatient facility or died. The number of admissions/discharges excludes:a transfer from one department to another one at the same hospital; day-cases of day patients; weekend leave when the patient has been released temporarily and the hospital bed is still reserved; cases where treatment is provided by hospital personnel at the patient's home. Newborns are not included.

For countries participating in the Joint Eurostat / OECD / WHO Europe data collection on health care activities (for year 2012 those were: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey and United Kingdom), following definition was used:

Hospital aggregates: Inpatient care

a) Inpatient care discharges (all hospitals)

An inpatient discharge is the release of a patient who was formally admitted into a hospital for treatment and/or care and who stayed for a minimum of one night (see definition for hospital inpatient discharges below). Only the total number of inpatient discharges in all hospitals is requested (no breakdown by diagnostic categories)._

Country/Area notes

Albania

Ministry of Health.

Armenia

Source of data: National Health Information Analytic Center, Ministry of Health of the Republic of
Armenia http://moh.am/?section=static_pages/index&id=625&subID=824,29.
Data collected annually, reference period: 31 December.

Austria

Source: Statistics Austria, Hospital Discharge Statistics. Data do not any longer, include the
long-term care institutions for the elderly which have not been subject to the regulations of the
Federal Hospital Act during the complete observation period.

Belgium

Source: Federal Public Service of Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment. Health Care
Facilities Organization (DG1), Minimal Clinical Data. 2007: provisional data.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Available up to the war time on yearly. PHI war period no data available. Public Health Institute of
Federation of B&H; Department for Health Statistics and Informatics
Public Health Institute of Republic of Srpska. Department for social medicine with health
organization and health economics. Law on Health Evidence and Statistical Research in Health. Annual
report of hospitals

Cyprus

General Hospitals, Rural Hospitals and one special Hospital, public sector only. Day cases are also
included as they could not be disaggregated from hospital admissions.

Czechia

Source: Institute of Health Information and Statistics of CR (IHIS CR). Survey on bed resources of
health establishments and their exploitation. Coverage: Data refer to number of hospitalizations in
General hospitals and Specialized therapeutic institutes (excluding Balneologic institutes and
Convalescent homes for children). Hospitalized newborns are excluded.
Deviation from the definition: Transfers from one department to another one at the same hospital
are considered as two hospitalizations: day-cases of patients treated in bed care departments are
not excluded.
Break in time series: Until 1999 data covers only establishments of the Health Sector. From 2000
data covers also health establishments of other central organs.

Denmark

Data includes both somatic and psychiatric hospitals. NOTE: The data prior to 2005 includes ALL
admissions. The data from 2005 onwards uses the 24-hour stay definition, which explains the lower
data values. From 2000 onwards the data no longer includes transfer from one department to another
department within the same hospitals.

Estonia

Source: annual reporting, National Institute for Health Development (NIHD).

Finland

Source: Hospital Discharge Register, THL (National Institute for Health and Welfare).

France

Includes data for French overseas territories. Source: DGOS DREES PMSI-SAE

Georgia

Source: National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia (NCDC) (http://www.ncdc.ge)

Germany

Hospital admissions comprise admissions in all types of hospitals (HP1.1, 1.2 and 1.3) and all
sectors (public, not-for-profit and private). Included are admissions in general hospitals, mental
health hospitals and prevention and rehabilitation homes. Admissions in long-term nursing care
facilities are excluded. As of reporting year 2002 the number of admissions includes day cases.
Source: Federal Statistical Office, Hospital statistics - basic data.

Hungary

Source until 2003: Center for Health Care Information (GYOGYINFOK). The data is the case number of
department discharges. Source from 2004: National Institute for Strategic Health Research (ESKI) and
the data is the case number for hospital discharge, rather than case number for department
discharge.

Iceland

Discharges from hospitals as defined in indicator 275210. Includes all discharges with LOS less than
90 days (includes discharges where the diagnosis is missing or ICD code is invalid). Day care was
included to some extent from 1985-1988. Newborns are excluded (discharges with the Z38 code were
counted based on principal/main diagnosis and then subtracted from the total number of discharges).
Source: The Directorate of Health / The Ministry of Health and Social Security.

Break in series in 2008 due to the fact that data in the National Patient Discharge Register has
been updated /corrected.

Until 2008 newborns (Z38) have been included. This will be corrected next year along with other
corrections.

Ireland

Source: Health Service Executive. Data prior to 2006 comes from the Department of Health and
Children. Figures refer to the number of in-patients, excluding day cases, who were discharged from
or died in publicly funded acute and psychiatric (public and private) hospitals. Private hospitals
and district/community are not included. Break in series: Prior to 2009, psychiatric (public and
private) hospitals were excluded and district/community hospitals hospitals were included.

Israel

Number of all hospital admissions. Source: Department of Health Information, Ministry of Health.

Italy

Source: Ministry of Health. Admissions are referred to hospitals under indicator 275210. Clinical
data gathered in the hospital discharges database are coded with the following versions: until 2005
with ICD9-CM version 1997, from 2006 to 2008 with ICD9-CM version 2002, since 2009 with the ICD9-CM
version 2007.

Latvia

Hospital discharges including patients who returned home, were transferred to another hospital or
died.

Lithuania

Source: Up to 2000: LHIC, annual report data . From 2001: HI HIC data from annual reports and
Compulsory Health Insurance Database (for day cases) Coverage: Up to 2000: discharge data excluded
healthy newborns, including day cases. From 2001: Discharge data excluding nursing patients, day
cases, healthy newborns.

Malta

Source: Hospital Activity Analysis (HAA). Figures relate to public hospitals excluding day cases.

Montenegro

Data are for discharges (Stationary medical centres are included).

Netherlands

Breaks in series: 2002 and later includes healthy new born infants, if mother was inpatient. The
data cover all admissions for 24 hour care in general, university and specialized hospitals as well
as mental hospitals. Excluded are all babies born in hospitals. Statistics Netherlands: Statistics
of intramural health care; National Medical Registration.

North Macedonia

Source: Institute for Public Health (IPH).

Norway

Number of discharges.

Poland

Source: Ministry of Health.

Portugal

Source of data: National Statistical Institute Coverage: National

Romania

Includes newborns that are included in the number of all hospital admissions.

Russian Federation

Excluding: day cases.

Serbia

Source: Institute of Public Health of Serbia.

Slovenia

Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana 1996.

Spain

Number of discharges. Source up to 1996: National Statistics Institute and Ministry of Health and
Consumer Affairs. Statistics on Health Establishments Providing Inpatient Care. Source from
1996:Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs (www.msc.es/)

Sweden

Source: ICD-10: A00-Z99, National Patient Register NBHW.

Switzerland

The data is restricted to inpatient cases (exclusion of day cases). Source of data: FSO Federal
Statistical Office, Neuchatel; Medical Statistics of Hospitals; yearly census.
Coverage: Full coverage of hospitals; sufficient (nearly full) coverage of inpatient and day cases
since 2002. Due to a modification of the legislation, day cases are not collected in 2009 anymore.
Deviation from the definition:
Estimation method: Discharges without a valid ICD-code are not accounted for (negligible).
Break in time series: The gradual change of diagnosis classification since 2008 from ICD-10 WHO to
ICD-10 GM (German Modification) may lead to breaks for some categories.

Türkiye

Source: General Directorate of Curative Services. Method: Total number of inpatients; covers the
Ministry of Health, university and private hospitals. Newborns are included.

Turkmenistan

Source: Administrative medical statistics, forms: 14 ?Report on hospital activity? and 016/y
?Summary statement of account of patients and hospital beds?

Ukraine

Included only admissions in public hospitals under Ministry of Health.
Source: Centre of Health Statistics, Ministry of Health.

United Kingdom

Source of Data: England - NHS Information Centre.
Scotland - NHS National Services Scotland, Information Services Division (ISD).
Wales - NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS), Patient Episode Database.
N. Ireland - Department for Health, Social Services and Public Safety, KH03.

Coverage: Data relates to NHS discharges or NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.
Data may not be complete as further submissions may be received at a later date. Figures are based
on completed hospital spells & diagnosis at discharge, with the exception of Scottish maternity data
which is episode based.

Deviation from the Definition: In Wales, some ICD10 codes are considered sensitive and have been
excluded from analysis (A50-A64, B20-B24, O03-O08, O98.1-O98.3, R75, R76.2, Z70, Z20.2, Z20.6, Z21,
Z22.4, Z71.7, Z72.5),

Estimation Method: Scotland could not provide 2010 data due to data completeness issues and so this
figure has been estimated using 2009 data for Scotland. This figure will be revised when 2010 data
for Scotland is available.

Break in Time Series: Data from 2000 onwards is not comparable with data from prior to this. This
is due to work conducted to improve compliance with definitions and consistency of methodologies
across the four parts of the UK.