A study of the validity of the Hospital Activity Analysis information.

For a number of years the medical profession and its administrators have been using statistical tabulations from the Hospital Activity Analysis returns. The quality of this information has often been criticized and no attempt has been made to quantify the levels of 'errors' in England and Wales. This paper reports the findings of such a study in Nottingham, and concludes that the Hospital Activity Analysis system in that area is almost as good as the clinical notes from which it is derived.