• Ghida Aljuburi, Anthony A Laverty, Stuart A Green, Karen J Phekoo, Ricky Banarsee, N V Ogo Okoye, Derek Bell, and Azeem Majeed.
• Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London W6 8RP, UK. g.aljuburi07@imperial.ac.uk
• J Public Health (Oxf). 2012 Dec 1;34(4):570-6.

BackgroundSickle cell disease (SCD) is a rising cause of mortality and morbidity in England and consequently an important policy issue for the National Health Service. There has been no previous study that has examined SCD admission rates in England.MethodsData from Hospital Episode Statistics were analysed for all hospital episodes (2001/10) in England with a primary diagnosis of sickle cell anaemia with crisis (D57.0) or without crisis (D57.1). Secondary and tertiary diagnoses were examined among those patients admitted with either of these codes as their primary diagnosis.ResultsThe overall SCD admission rate per 100 000 has risen from 21.2 in 2001/02 to 33.5 in 2009/10, a rise of over 50%. London accounts for 74.9% of all SCD admissions in England. 57.9% of patients admitted are discharged within 24 h. The largest rise in admission rates was seen among males aged 40-49 years where admission rates per 100 000 increased from 7.6 to 26.8 over the study period.ConclusionsOur data show that SCD admissions are rising in England, particularly in London. Over half of patients admitted with SCD were discharged within 24 h, suggesting that some of these admissions could be prevented through better ambulatory care of patients.

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