Total number of procedures2001-200283,7702002-200394,9542003-2004102,9002004-2005104,1682005-2006109,316 Notes: OPCS 4.2 codes A01 to X59Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. All operations count of mentions These figures represent a count of all mentions of an operation in any of the 12 (4 prior to 2002-03) operation fields in the HES data set. Therefore, if an operation is mentioned in more than one operation field during an episode, all operations are counted. Main operation The main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, for example time waited, but the figures for all operations count of episodes give a more complete count of episodes with an operation. Secondary procedure As well as the main operative procedure, there are up to 11 (3 prior to 2002-03) secondary operation fields in Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) that show secondary or additional procedures performed on the patient during this episode of care. Data quality Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS Trusts and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisation to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data view HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (for example the data are ungrossed). Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care.