Friday 28 February 2025
Internal Reference Number: FOI_8414
Date Request Received: 29/01/2025 00:00:00
Date Request Replied To: 06/02/2025 00:00:00
This response was sent via: By Email
Request Summary: Clinical Coding Details for 2024
Request Category: Companies
| Question Number 1: I am writing to submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request concerning various aspects of clinical coding within your Trust. We are gathering information to understand current practices and to identify areas where support and improvements can be made. Please find below the questions we hope you can assist us with: How many episodes of care were coded by your organisation in 2024 (both inpatient and outpatient)? | |
| Answer To Question 1: Please see response to Q1 and Q4 in the spreadsheet attached. To accompany this answer to question 1 please also see the documents listed below:  FOI_8414 - Clinical Coding Details for 2024 response Q1 and Q4.xlsx | |
| Question Number 2: How many episodes of care went uncoded in 2024? | |
| Answer To Question 2: 0 | |
| Question Number 3: How much income do you estimate was not generated due to uncoded activity? | |
| Answer To Question 3: N/A - we code all records by Freeze date (two months after month end. | |
| Question Number 4: Can you provide the split of coding volumes between specialities (e.g., oncology, cardiology)? | |
| Answer To Question 4: Please see response to Q1 and Q4 in the spreadsheet attached. | |
| Question Number 5: Please explain how your organisation manages coding activity. | |
| Answer To Question 5: Outpatient coding is completed by the clinician. Inpatient coding is completed by clinical coders. | |
| Question Number 6: Are outpatient and inpatient coding managed by the same team or separate teams? | |
| Answer To Question 6: Separately as per answer to question 5. | |
| Question Number 7: How many Whole-Time Equivalent (WTE) staff complete clinical coding for the Trust? | |
| Answer To Question 7: 12 WTE currently | |
| Question Number 8: What proportion of the total WTE staff for clinical coding is substantive (permanent), bank staff, and agency staff? | |
| Answer To Question 8: The figures provided are substantive staff. there are also some pockets of bank usage and adhoc agency usage. | |
| Question Number 9: Does the Trust currently have any automated solutions in place for clinical coding? | |
| Answer To Question 9: No | |
| Question Number 10: If yes, please explain the automated solution that is in place. | |
| Answer To Question 10: N/A | |
| Question Number 11: If not, is the Trust planning to implement automated coding solutions in the next 12–24 months? Or would it be interested in exploring potential solutions? | |
| Answer To Question 11: The Trust would be interesting in exploring products that have a proven return on investment. | |
| Question Number 12: Is the Trust currently on Payment by Results (PbR), block contracts, or another financial model? | |
| Answer To Question 12: Block contracts predominantly. | |
| Question Number 13: What clinical coding systems or software does the Trust currently use to capture clinical codes? | |
| Answer To Question 13: The Trust's electronic patient record, Lorenzo | |
| Question Number 14: Does your Trust’s Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system integrate clinical coding, or do clinical departments use standalone systems? | |
| Answer To Question 14: EPR system is the main place for clinical coding. Information can be gleaned from some disparate systems that are not integrated with the EPR. | |
| Question Number 15: What are the main challenges the Trust faces in clinical coding (e.g., timeliness, accuracy, staffing shortages)? | |
| Answer To Question 15: Staffing shortages and depth of data to be used for coding. | |
| Question Number 16: Could you provide the contact details (name, job title, and email) of the person who is ultimately responsible for overseeing clinical coding within the Trust? | |
| Answer To Question 16: Jon Burwell, Chief Information Officer, jon.burwell@nhs.net | |
| Please see Attachments: | |
| To return to the list of all the FOI requests please click here | |
Our staff at Salisbury District Hospital have long been well regarded for the quality of care and treatment they provide for our patients and for their innovation, commitment and professionalism. This has been recognised in a wide range of achievements and it is reflected in our award of NHS Foundation Trust status. This is afforded to hospitals that provide the highest standards of care.
