Episodes reviewed
62
Sample data
SDEC suitability considered
80.6%
Target ≥ 90%
Referred where suitable
83.9%
Suitable patients referred to SDEC
Same-day discharge achieved
38.7%
Where the SDEC pathway was used
Aim
To assess whether potentially suitable patients are considered for SDEC, referred through the right pathway, managed safely and discharged the same day where appropriate, with clear documentation of reasons when SDEC is not suitable or admission is required.
Standard
Local SDEC pathway and NHS England same day emergency care guidance — SDEC suitability considered, referred appropriately and safely managed with documented decisions (local target ≥ 90%)
Sample
Target sample 100 consecutive adult urgent or emergency care episodes (16 years and over) across participating areas. Pseudonymised episode-level data only — no direct patient identifiers.
Tool workflow
Step 1
Project setup
Confirm scope, wards, departments, specialties, leads and local SDEC pathway references.
Step 2
Team
Add supervisors, SDEC, ED, ambulance, pharmacy and governance leads.
Step 3
Inclusion / exclusion
Review who is in scope and the 30 audit criteria.
Step 4
Data collection
Structured form for each urgent or emergency care episode.
Step 5
Dashboard
Compliance, referral routes, non-use reasons, trends and safety concerns.
Step 6
Findings
Interpret results, good practice and gaps.
Step 7
Improvement
Plan actions, PDSA cycles and re-audit.
Step 8
Resources
NHS England SDEC guidance and local pathway documents.
Step 9
Export centre
Editable Word, PowerPoint, Excel and ARCP outputs.
Add an episode
Open the structured data collection form.
Plan improvement
PDSA cycles, actions and re-audit plan.
Generate outputs
Word, PowerPoint, Excel and ARCP evidence.
Clinical safety note
This tool supports local audit, quality improvement and operational governance review. It does not make SDEC referral or discharge decisions and does not replace clinical judgement, local SDEC pathway criteria, ED streaming policy, ambulance direct referral policy, senior clinical review, NEWS2 escalation, frailty assessment, safeguarding procedures, Mental Capacity Act requirements, discharge policy, diagnostic protocols, specialty advice or emergency escalation pathways. Any clinical deterioration, high NEWS2, haemodynamic instability, sepsis concern, safeguarding concern, capacity concern, unsafe discharge concern, missed diagnosis concern or patient safety risk must be escalated according to local policy. Do not enter patient names, NHS numbers, hospital numbers, full dates of birth, addresses or other direct identifiers.