This dataset presents the crude rate of emergency hospital admissions for epilepsy among children and young people aged under 19. It provides insight into the burden of acute epileptic episodes requiring urgent care and serves as a key indicator of neurological health and service provision for this age group.
Rationale
Reducing hospital admissions for epilepsy in children and young people is a public health priority. High admission rates may reflect challenges in managing epilepsy in community settings, medication adherence, or access to specialist care. Monitoring this indicator supports efforts to improve epilepsy management and reduce preventable admissions.
Numerator
The numerator is the number of emergency hospital admissions for individuals aged under 19 with a primary diagnosis of epilepsy, identified using ICD-10 codes G40 (Epilepsy) and G41 (Status epilepticus). Data are sourced from NHS England’s Secondary Uses Service (SUS).
Denominator
The denominator is the total resident population aged under 19, based on 2021 Census data.
Caveats
No specific caveats were noted for this dataset. However, as with all hospital admission indicators, local variations in clinical coding, referral practices, and healthcare access may influence the results.
External References
Fingertips Public Health Profiles – Epilepsy Admissions (Under 19)
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.