• Health, Superseded 10/06/2022

Patient days under Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) surveillance should only reflect those beds covered by SAB surveillance arrangements.

If a hospital was not included in the SAB surveillance arrangements for part of the year, then the patient days for that part of the year are excluded. If part of the hospital was not included in the SAB surveillance arrangements (e.g. children's ward, psychiatric wards), then patient days for that part of the hospital are excluded. Patient days for non-acute hospitals (such as rehabilitation and psychiatric hospitals) are included if the hospital was included in the SAB surveillance arrangements.

A day is measured from midnight to 2359 hours.

Patient days for unqualified newborns, hospital boarders, and posthumous organ procurement are excluded.

The following basic rules are used to calculate the number of patient days for overnight-stay patients:

• the day the patient is admitted is a patient day
• if the patient remains in hospital from midnight to 2359 hours, count as a patient day
• the day a patient goes on leave is counted as a leave day
• if the patient is on leave from midnight to 2359 hours, count as a leave day
• the day the patient returns from leave is counted as a patient day
• the day the patient is separated is not counted as a patient day.

The following additional rules cover special circumstances and in such cases, override the basic rules:

• patients admitted and separated on the same date (same-day patients) are to be given a count of one patient day
• if the patient is admitted and goes on leave on the same day, count as a patient day
• if the patient returns from leave and goes on leave on the same date, count as a leave day
• if the patient returns from leave and is separated, it is not counted as either a patient day or a leave day
• if a patient goes on leave the day they are admitted and does not return from leave until the day they are discharged, count as one patient day (the day of admission is counted as a patient day, the day of separation is not counted as a patient day).

When calculating total patient days for a specified period:

• count the total patient days of those patients separated during the specified period, including those admitted before the specified period
• do not count the patient days of those patients admitted during the specified period who did not separate until the following reference period
• contract patient days are included in the count of total patient days. If it is a requirement to distinguish contract patient days from other patient days, they can be calculated by using the rules contained in the data element: total contract patient days.

SAB rates are presented per 10,000 patient days under SAB surveillance.

SAB surveillance coverage is the number of patient days under SAB surveillance presented as a percentage of the number of patient days.