If, during a spell of treatment, a patient is transferred from one consultant to another, a new Consultant Episode commences. Note that HES records relating to the same patient are not permanently linked together within the HES database. However, there are various techniques which facilitate analysis on a spell, and to a lesser extent patient, basis. This is often referred to as the HES datayear. A day case is an elective admission where the patient was treated during the course of a single day.
Most day cases are episodes involving minor surgical procedures.
HES records contain a data item for patient classification which enables day cases to be separately identified. The date that the patient ceases to occupy a hospital bed. Note that when a patient is transferred from one NHS Trust to another, the patient is actually discharged from the first Trust and then admitted to the second. This means that there will be at least two separate HES records detailing the period of treatment. As planned admissions are those deferred for medical reasons, these are not included in waiting time analyses.