This dataset presents the age-standardised rate of emergency hospital admissions for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in adults aged 35 and over. It provides a key measure of the burden of acute respiratory illness and supports the evaluation of COPD management and prevention strategies across local populations.
Rationale
Reducing emergency admissions for COPD is a public health priority. High admission rates may reflect poor disease control, environmental exposures, smoking prevalence, or gaps in access to primary and preventative care. Monitoring this indicator helps inform targeted interventions to improve respiratory health and reduce avoidable hospitalisations.
Numerator
The numerator is the number of emergency hospital admissions for individuals aged 35 and over with a primary diagnosis of COPD, identified using ICD-10 codes J40 to J44. Data are sourced from the Secondary Uses Service (SUS).
Denominator
The denominator is the resident population aged 35 and over, based on the 2021 Census.
Caveats
NHS Digital has identified a data quality issue affecting Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data for Nottingham University Hospitals Trust during the 2016/17 financial year. Over 30% of records from this trust lacked valid geographic information, and as a result, Public Health England (PHE) has not published a value for this trust.
External References
Fingertips Public Health Profiles – COPD Admissions (35+)
Localities Explained
This dataset contains data based on either the resident locality or registered locality of the patient, a distinction is made between resident locality and registered locality populations:
- Resident Locality refers to individuals who live within the defined geographic boundaries of the locality. These boundaries are aligned with official administrative areas such as wards and Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs).
- Registered Locality refers to individuals who are registered with GP practices that are assigned to a locality based on the Primary Care Network (PCN) they belong to. These assignments are approximate—PCNs are mapped to a locality based on the location of most of their GP surgeries. As a result, locality-registered patients may live outside the locality, sometimes even in different towns or cities.
This distinction is important because some health indicators are only available at GP practice level, without information on where patients actually reside. In such cases, data is attributed to the locality based on GP registration, not residential address.
Click here to explore more from the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Partnerships Outcome Framework.