New study reveals how same day care can ease NHS emergency pressures

A new study led by the University of Sheffield and published in BMJ Open has found that up to one-third of A&E attendances and two-fifths of acute admissions could potentially be managed through same-day emergency care (SDEC) and community settings—keeping patients safe and treated without an overnight hospital stay.

With support for information governance, data curation and data validation from Data Connect, researchers analyzed local data directly from NHS hospitals in South Yorkshire, alongside aggregated results from across the U.K.

Unlocking data, protecting privacy

To analyze more than 1.5 million emergency visits securely, the team used a “federated” approach. Instead of moving sensitive patient-level data to a central database, the data remained in regional data environments, and only the anonymous, aggregated results were shared.

This secure collaboration was made possible using a Trusted Research Environment—a highly secure cloud platform at the University of Sheffield—where only approved researchers can analyze complex, pseudonymized data.

By safely unlocking NHS data, this research provides health care leaders with vital insights needed to reduce A&E wait times and acute admissions, improve local services, and ensure patients get the right care faster.

Who’s behind this story?

Lisa Lock

BA art history, MA material culture. Former museum editor, paramedic, and transplant coordinator. Editing for Science X since 2021.

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Andrew Zinin

Master’s in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X’s editorial success.

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