How urgently was care required?

In 2014–15, more than half (58%, 44,858) of deaths in hospital were emergency admissions, while 21% were elective admissions (16,076) (Figure 3). Urgency status was not assigned or not reported (for example, for planned admissions where the patient receives limited care or treatment for a current condition) for 21% of deaths in hospital (15,909). Over three-quarters of separations that ended in death and for which the urgency status was not assigned were for palliative care.

Figure 3: Proportion of deaths in hospital by urgency of admission, 2014–15

This vertical bar chart shows the proportion of deaths in hospital by urgency of admission. The chart shows in 2014–15, more than half of deaths in hospital were Emergency admissions, while 21%25 were Elective admissions.

Source: NHMD.