• Alicia O'Cathain, Emma Knowles, Ravi Maheswaran, Tim Pearson, Janette Turner, Enid Hirst, Steve Goodacre, and Jon Nicholl.
• Medical Care Research Unit, ScHARR, School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, , Sheffield, UK.
• BMJ Qual Saf. 2014 Jan 1;23(1):47-55.

BackgroundSome emergency admissions can be avoided if acute exacerbations of health problems are managed by the range of health services providing emergency and urgent care.AimTo identify system-wide factors explaining variation in age sex adjusted admission rates for conditions rich in avoidable admissions.DesignNational ecological study.Setting152 emergency and urgent care systems in England.MethodsHospital Episode Statistics data on emergency admissions were used to calculate an age sex adjusted admission rate for conditions rich in avoidable admissions for each emergency and urgent care system in England for 2008-2011.ResultsThere were 3 273 395 relevant admissions in 2008-2011, accounting for 22% of all emergency admissions. The mean age sex adjusted admission rate was 2258 per year per 100 000 population, with a 3.4-fold variation between systems (1268 and 4359). Factors beyond the control of health services explained the majority of variation: unemployment rates explained 72%, with urban/rural status explaining further variation (R(2)=75%). Factors related to emergency departments, hospitals, emergency ambulance services and general practice explained further variation (R(2)=85%): the attendance rate at emergency departments, percentage of emergency department attendances converted to admissions, percentage of emergency admissions staying less than a day, percentage of emergency ambulance calls not transported to hospital and perceived access to general practice within 48 h.ConclusionsInterventions to reduce avoidable admissions should be targeted at deprived communities. Better use of emergency departments, ambulance services and primary care could further reduce avoidable emergency admissions.

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