Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions there have been in each of the last five years for (a) adults and (b) children with a (i) primary and (ii) secondary diagnosis of autism.

The following table shows a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of autism for those aged 0 to 17 years old and aged 18 years old and over in each year from 2016/17 to 2020/21.

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital.

Notes:

1. An FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes.
2. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.
3. Primary and secondary diagnosis of autism: HES data uses the International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes on autism: F84.0 - Autism Spectrum Disorder and F84.1 - Atypical Autism.
4. Assessing growth over time: HES figures are available from 1989/1990 onwards. Changes to the figures over time should be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage –such as improvements in coverage of independent sector activity and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so are no longer included in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information.
5. HES include activity ending in the year in question from April to March, for example 2012/2013 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.