This collection includes the major national hospitals databases held by the AIHW, including:

  • The National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), a compilation of episode-level records from admitted patient morbidity data collection systems in Australian public and private hospitals.
  • The National Public Hospital Establishments Database (NPHED), which holds information on public hospital resources and includes information reported for public hospitals, Local hospital networks (LHNs) and state and territory health authorities.
  • The National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database (NNAPEDCD), a compilation of episode-level records (including waiting times for care) for non-admitted patients registered for care in emergency departments in selected public hospitals.
  • The National Elective Surgery Waiting Times Data Collection (NESWTDC), which holds episode-level information on patients added to or removed from elective surgery waiting lists managed by public hospitals.
  • The National Non-Admitted Patient Care (aggregate) Database (NNAP(agg)D), which holds clinic-level information on non-admitted patient care provided by public hospitals, LHNs and selected other public hospital services managed by state and territory health authorities.
  • The National Non-admitted Patient (episode-level) Database (NNAP(el)D), which holds episode-level information on non-admitted patient care provided by public hospitals, LHNs and selected other public hospital services managed by state and territory health authorities.
Collection details

Temporal coverage

From 1 July 1993 to 30 June 2018

Geographical coverage

National and state

Data availability

  • Publications
  • Data cubes
  • Summary tables published in electronic form
  • Statistics
  • Client specified tables on request which may be subject to data provider approval (charges apply)
  • Restricted unit record access subject to Ethics Committee approval and/or the agreement of all relevant data custodians in all states and territories (charges may apply)

Restrictions and limitations govern the availability or use of other data in this holding.

Data scope

The scope of data held under the National Hospitals Data Collection vary by database and over time. Please refer to the relevant metadata for further information. 

Methodology

Admin data

Data set specifications

2018–19:

Non-Admitted Patient Emergency Department Care 2018–19 specifications (v 1.2)

Elective Surgery Waiting Times Census and Removals 2018–19 specification (v 1.1)

Admitted Patient Care 2018–19 specifications (v 1.1)

Admitted Sub and Non-Acute Care 2018–19 specifications (v 1.0)

Local Hospital Network and Public Hospital Establishments 2018–19_LHN and jurisdictional component specifications (v 1.0)

Local Hospital Network and Public Hospital Establishments 2018–19_PHE component specifications (v 1.1)

Non-Admitted Patient Care 2018–19 Unit Record Level Specifications (v 1.0)

Non-Admitted Patient Care 2018–19 Aggregate Level Specifications (v 1.0)

Palliative care 2018–19 specifications (v 1.0)

Metadata information and data quality statement (DQS)

METeOR NMDS and DSS information:

NHMD:
Admitted patient care NMDS 2017–18

NPHED:

Public hospital establishments NMDS 2017–18 

NNAPEDCD:

Non-admitted emergency department care NMDS 2017–18

Non-admitted patient care DSS 2017–18

NESWTDC:

Elective surgery waiting times NMDS

NNAP(agg)D:

Non-admitted patient aggregate NMDS 2017–18

Non-admitted patient Local Hospital Network aggregate DSS 2017–18

NNAP(el)D:

Non-admitted patient NBEDS 2017–18

External links and information 

Data for this collection are published regularly in the Australian hospital statistics suite of reports and related products.

The hospitals data are also available from the following data cubes:

Principal Diagnosis data cubes 

Procedures data cubes 

Australian refined diagnosis-related groups (AR-DRG) data cubes 

Explore Hospitals to find out more about Australia’s hospital system.

Contact

hospitaldata@aihw.gov.au