Creating a Real-World Linked Research Platform for Analyzing the Urgent and Emergency Care System

Abstract

This article describes the development of a system-level data platform for research using routine patient-level data from the urgent and emergency care system in 1 region of the United Kingdom.The article describes how the data were acquired, cleaned, and linked and the challenges faced when undertaking analysis with the data.The data set has been used to understand patient use of the system, journeys once in the system, and outcomes following its use, for example, patterns of frequent use within urgent care and accuracy of referral decisions within the system.