The Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) is the national data set for urgent and emergency care. It replaced Accident & Emergency Commissioning Data Set (CDS type 010) and was implemented through: ECDS (CDS 6.2.2 Type 011).

ECDS allows NHS Digital to provide information to support the care provided in emergency departments by including the data items needed to understand capacity and demand and help improve patient care.

This improved data helps improve understanding of:

The complexity and acuity of attending patients The causes of rising demand The value added by emergency departments.

ECDS also allows:

The capture of better diagnostic data to ensure an enhanced understanding of need, activity and outcomes consistent monitoring of data across local and national initiatives

Support for injury surveillance, such that it will be possible to identify patterns that may be amenable to targeted interventions and improved public health.