The Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) is the national data set for urgent and emergency care. It replaced Accident & Emergency Commissioning Data Set (CDS type 010) and was implemented through: ECDS (CDS 6.2.2 Type 011). ECDS allows NHS Digital to provide information to support the care provided in emergency departments by including the data items needed to understand capacity and demand and help improve patient care.

ECDS Type 011 is better equipped to keep pace with the increasing complexity of delivering emergency care than its predecessor. This means that the improved quality of data collected in emergency departments provides better support to healthcare planning and better-informed decision making on improvements to services.

This improved data helps improve understanding of: The complexity and acuity of attending patients The causes of rising demand The value added by emergency departments.

ECDS also allows: The capture of better diagnostic data to ensure an enhanced understanding of need, activity and outcomes. Consistent monitoring of data across local and national initiatives support for injury surveillance, such that it will be possible to identify patterns that may be amenable to targeted interventions and improved public health. Which in turn informs more effective and efficient resource deployment.

Please note, data can be submitted to the ECDS on a daily basis, however data extracts are made available via the DARS process on the second Thursday of each month, comprising provisional data for the full financial year up to and including the penultimate full month prior to the publication date. For example: Data for events that occurred 01/04/2020 to 31/10/2020 is made available via DARS extract on 10/12/2020.

Timescales for dissemination of agreed data can be found under 'Our Service Levels' at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/data-access-request-service-dars/data-access-request-service-dars-process