Introduction
Data submission
Concept Definitions
Urgent Care Centre
Urgent Care Centre Presentation
Triage
Data Definitions
Data Definition Structure
Data Items
Visit Type
Departure Status
Triage Category
1
1
2
2
2
3
4
4
5
5
7
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A new Urgent Care Centre (UCC) form is being introduced to enable a better understanding of the models of care and demand for urgent care centre services for local health services that is not available from monthly aggregate submission of service events on the S10 Non-admitted Clinic Activity form. The new form will also support the transition to funding emergency care using Urgency Disposition Group
(UDG) as part of the National Health Reform.
Urgent care centres have appropriately qualified staff that assess and triage patients for definitive management or referral on for higher level care, as clinically appropriate. At a minimum urgent care centres have the capacity to perform emergency resuscitation and stabilisation for adults and children and prepare and manage patients for transfer to a higher level of care as clinically appropriate.
Local Health Services are WIES funded health services that operate urgent care centres providing emergency care that is available 7 days a week 24 hours a day. These health services, list in Table 1, are required to submit this data collection for each campus with an urgent care centre.
The new Urgent Care Centre form is required to be completed in addition to the AIMS S10 form.
Table 1: List of Local Health Services
Health Service
Benalla Health
Castlemaine Health
Colac Area Health
Djerriwarrh Health Service
East Grampians Health Service
Gippsland Southern Health Service
Kyabram and District Health Service
Maryborough District Health Service
Portland District Health
Stawell Regional Health
Campus
Benalla and District Memorial Hospital
Castlemaine Health [CA]
Colac Area Health
Djerriwarrh Health Service [Bacchus Marsh]
East Grampians Health Service [Ararat]
Korumburra Hospital
Leongatha Memorial Hospital
Kyabram and District Health Service
Maryborough District Health Service [Maryborough]
Portland District Health
Stawell Regional Health
Local health services must submit data to the department via the HealthCollect Portal by the 15 th
day following the end of the reporting month. A tick in the Completed field indicates to the department that the form is complete, with all validation rules satisfied and appropriate approvals for release obtained.
Completed forms must be retained by the health service and be available for auditing purposes upon request to officers of the department.
A correction must be submitted where an error is detected for any data previously submitted to the department. To correct an error, uncheck the Completed box, amend data and re-check Completed box.
A correction can be made at any time during the reference year.
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This section provides definitions of the concepts underlying the collection. The definitions are based, wherever possible, on the National Health Data Dictionary.
Classification Concept
Definition A dedicated area in a hospital that is organised and administered to provide emergency care (including reception, triage, initial assessment and management) to people who perceive the need for, or are in need of, acute or urgent care.
At a minimum urgent care centres have the capacity to perform emergency resuscitation and stabilisation for adults and children and prepare and manage patients for transfer to a higher level of care as clinically appropriate.
Urgent care centres provide emergency care that is available 7 days a week 24 hours a day.
Classification Concept
Definition An Urgent Care Centre presentation is the reporting unit of the Urgent Care
Centre form. All presentations assessed to the extent that they are allocated a
Triage Category should be reported.
A presentation concludes when the patient physically leaves the Urgent Care
Centre.
Guide for Use Some form of formal or informal triage event logically precedes the act of receiving treatment in the Urgent Care Centre. For instance, a patient may be so critically ill that they by-pass the formal triage process to receive resuscitative intervention. However, the act of prioritising access to care according to the level of need has still occurred.
An Urgent Care Centre presentation should be reported even if the patient leaves the Urgent Care Centre before the treatment has commenced or if the registration was commenced but not completed (use the appropriate Departure
Status code).
If a patient attends the Urgent Care Centre for the treatment of two or more conditions concurrently, only one presentation should be reported.
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Classification Concept
Definition Triage is the structured screening of a patient upon presentation at the Urgent
Care Centre in order to determine the urgency of their presenting complaint
(Triage Category) and thereby assist in determining their priority of care.
Guide for Use The Triage Category is used to determine the urgency with which patients are investigated or treated by the UCC staff.
Triage relies on expertise in the following:

Characteristics and severity of the presenting condition

Brief physical assessment

Patient’s

Presenting signs and symptoms

Vital

Overall
2. Knowledge (of)

Physiology and pathology

Resources

Department
3. Intuition

Skill

Sensitivity

Surveillance.
It is acknowledged that treatment can commence before, during or after triage.
Information obtained during triage should be sufficient to determine the needs and urgency of treatment. This does not exclude the instigation of more detailed investigation or recommendations by the triage staff. At or subsequent to triage, the patient may receive advice about Urgent Care Centre and alternative treatment options. On consideration of this advice, the patient may choose to leave the Urgent Care Centre without being treated.
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This section provides the specifications for each UCC data item. Within each part, data items are sequenced in alphabetical order.
Specification
Definition A statement that expresses the essential nature of a data item and its differentiation from all other data items.
Reported for
Data items
Reporting guide
Validation
The specified circumstances when this data item must be reported.
The categories of information to be collected.
Additional comments or assistance on interpreting, applying and reporting the data item and code set.
A business rule that relates to this data item.
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Reporting guide
Specification
Definition
Reported for
Data items
The reason the patient presented to the Urgent Care Centre.
Every Urgent Care Centre presentation.
Planned
Planned return visit
Pre-arranged admission
Patient in transit
Unplanned
Emergency presentation
Dead on arrival
Select the most appropriate category from the following options.
Planned Return Visit
Includes:
Planned return to the Urgent Care Centre as a result of a previous UCC presentation or return visit. The return visit may be for planned follow-up treatment or as a consequence of test results indicating need for further treatment or as a result of a care plan initiated at discharge; OR
Outpatient appointment for a planned presentation.
Excludes:
Where a visit follows a general exhortation to return if feeling unwell, this should not be recorded as a planned visit.
Pre-arranged Admission
Includes:
Presentation at the Urgent Care Centre for clerical, nursing or medical processes to be undertaken. Admission has been arranged by the referring medical officer and a ward bed allocated.
Patient in Transit
The Urgent Care Centre is responsible for care and treatment of a patient awaiting transport to another institution.
Excludes patient requiring acute unscheduled care
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Emergency Presentation
Attendance requiring acute unscheduled care.
Includes:
Presentation due to an actual or suspected new clinical condition; or
An unplanned presentation for a continuing actual or suspected condition.
Dead on Arrival
Patient is pronounced dead by a medical practitioner before (or without) being brought into the Urgent Care Centre or where the patient is bought into the Urgent Care Centre but there is no intent to resuscitate.
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Specification
Definition
Reported for
Patient destination or status on departure from the Urgent Care Centre.
Every Urgent Care Centre presentation.
Data items Admitted
To this hospital
Not admitted
Returned to usual residence
Transferred to another health service
Left at own risk
Did not wait
Died in Urgent Care Centre
Dead on arrival
Reporting guide Report the immediate destination or departure status of the patient upon departure from the UCC.
Select the most appropriate category from the following options.
Admitted to this hospital
Include patients who are formally admitted to the hospital after attending the UCC.
Returned to usual residence
Patient returns home or returns to their usual residence such as a boarding/rooming house, residential care facility or mental health residential facility.
Transferred to another health service
Patient is transferred to another health service and the transfer is arranged by the hospital.
Excludes patients who are advised to attend another health service as it is not known if the patient follows the advice given.
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Validation
Left at own risk
Patient departs the UCC after being seen by a service provider despite being advised by clinical staff not to leave.
Did not wait
Patient departs UCC before being seen by a service provider or at or subsequent to triage, the patient has received advice about the UCC and alternative treatment options and on consideration of this advice, the patient chooses to leave without being seen by a service provider.
Include patients redirected from the UCC directly to a GP co-located clinic.
Died in urgent care
Patient died after commencement of UCC presentation. Includes where there is an intention to resuscitate but the patient is later pronounced dead.
Dead on Arrival
Patient is pronounced dead by a medical practitioner before (or without) being brought into the UCC or where the patient is bought into the UCC but there is no intention to resuscitate.
Total Departure Status presentations must equal total Visit Type presentations.
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Specification
Definition
Reported for
Classification according to urgency of need for medical and nursing care, using the National Triage Scale.
Every Urgent Care Centre presentation.
Data items Resuscitation: immediate (within seconds)
Planned/Admitted
Planned/Not admitted
Not planned/Admitted
Not planned/Not admitted
Emergency: within 10 minutes
Planned/Admitted
Planned/Not admitted
Not planned/Admitted
Not planned/Not admitted
Urgent: within 30 minutes
Planned/Admitted
Planned/Not admitted
Not planned/Admitted
Not planned/Not admitted
Semi-urgent: within 60 minutes
Planned/Admitted
Planned/Not admitted
Not planned/Admitted
Not planned/Not admitted
Non-urgent: within 120 minutes
Planned/Admitted
Reporting guide
Not planned/Not admitted
The Triage Category is to be allocated by an experienced registered nurse or medical practitioner.
It is imperative that the category accurately reflects the demand placed on
Urgent Care Centre services, therefore, once a patient is triaged, the
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Validation presentation must be recorded in all instances. This applies even when the patient did not wait for treatment to commence or if registration was commenced but not completed.
Changes in triage category:
It is recognised that triage categories may alter during a presentation.
The following guideline should be followed when a patient changes Triage
Category during an emergency presentation:

If the triage category of a patient is altered during their presentation, the original Triage Category is to be reported regardless of whether the re-categorisation is higher or lower.

Changes in Triage Categories may be recorded locally but only the original Triage Category should be reported.
Total Triage presentations must equal total Departure Status presentations less Dead on Arrival.
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