In its simplest sense, HES is the hospital activity data warehouse for information about the care provided to NHS patients who live or are treated in England. However, things are rarely simple and some care for NHS patients is provided by independent sector healthcare providers, such as some treatment centres, or even overseas and this too is required for HES. In addition, information on the care of private patients treated in NHS organisations is included in HES.

HES data are used by a wide variety of people, from casual internet surfers to clinicians and academic researchers. Because the data warehouse is record level, it is possible to analyse it in an almost infinite variety of ways depending on what you are looking for. Some examples of the use to which HES data are put can be found in the articles section.

HES data are taken from routine data exchanges between the organisations providing the patient's care and the organisation which commissions the care for the patient. Normally these will be NHS hospitals and primary care trusts (PCTs), but providers can also include independent sector organisations and they too must notify commissioners about the care they have provided for NHS patients. Currently, the information is exchanged using the Secondary Uses Service (SUS).

The first place to look is in the free data section of this website, which includes a number of different tables and may provide what you are looking for. If you require something more specific, you may wish to request an extract or a tabulation. Both of these services are chargeable and if you want sensitive data (e.g. NHS number, postcode or date of birth) the request would need the approval of the Security & Confidentiality Advisory Group, who act as our Caldicott Guardian.

The HES extract dates are published in advance each year and can be found on this website. Roughly speaking, the extracts are taken about a month after the end of each quarter and then the whole year's information is refreshed about two months after the end of the financial year.

No. HES data and their uses are bound by very strict protocols which protect individuals from being identified. It would be a very serious breach of these protocols to even attempt to identify individuals. The online HES system itself is designed to prevent any access to sensitive data.