CODE 1   Admitted to this hospital (either short stay unit, hospital-in-the-home or non-emergency service hospital ward)

This code excludes patients who died in the emergency service. Such instances should be coded to Code 6.

CODE 2   Non-admitted patient emergency service episode completed - departed without being admitted or referred to another hospital

This code includes patients who departed under their own care, under police custody, under the care of a residential aged care facility or other carer.

This code excludes those who died in the emergency service. Such instances should be coded to Code 6.

CODE 4  Did not wait to be attended by a health care professional

This code excludes patients who are advised of other health care services that could attend to their condition, and who leave the emergency service with the intention of attending another health care service. These patients should be coded to Code 8.

CODE 6   Died in emergency service

This code should only be used for patients who die while physically located within the emergency service.

CODE 7   Dead on arrival

This code should only be used for patients who are dead on arrival and an emergency service clinician certifies the death of the patient. This includes where the clinician certifies the death outside the emergency service (e.g. in an ambulance outside the emergency service).

Exclusion: When resuscitation or any other clinical care for the patient is attempted, Code 7 should not be used.

Note: Where Code 7 is recorded for a patient, an Emergency service stay—type of visit to emergency service, Code 5 (Dead on arrival) should also be recorded.

CODE 8  Registered, advised of another health care service, and left the emergency service without being attended by a health care professional

Patients should be coded to Code 8 if they meet all of the criteria (that is, they undergo a clerical registration process, are provided with advice about another health care service that could provide assessment and/or treatment of their condition, and leave the emergency service without receiving clinical care). However, patients should only be coded to Code 8 if, at the time of their departure, they provided a reasonable indication that they did intend to seek assistance from another health care service including the service to which they were referred.

They may leave the emergency service immediately after being advised of the other health care service, or may leave after a period of time.

If it is unclear whether the person intended to seek further treatment from another health care service, they should be coded to Code 4.

The health care service to which the patient is referred may include primary care/General Practitioner (GP) clinics, other clinics that provide specialised treatment (e.g. for mental health care or drug and alcohol care), or other health services (such as the patient’s usual GP). The service may be co-located with the hospital in which the emergency service is located, or may be a separate facility.