Contact Person: Dr Sandra Distefano

The Hospitals Information System aims to collect hospital activity data from State and Private Hospitals and incorporate it into a National Hospital Information System (NHIS) database. The collected data will be used for collation of hospital health care data requests at a National level for local and International Organisations.

Clinical data regarding diagnosis and external causes of injuries/accidents for hospitalised patients is coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10). Operations/procedures are coded in ICD-9 CM-vol3 (procedures).

JOINT DATA COLLETION ON NON-MONETARY HEALTH CARE STATISTICS

The overall objective of this joint questionnaire is to provide internationally comparable data on key aspects of health care systems as they relate to health human resources, physical/technical resources and health care activities.  

The joint questionnaire is forwarded to all member states from the 3 international organizations – EUROSTAT, WHO and OECD, who have teamed up to increase their collaboration and to reduce the burden on countries’ statistical units.  Malta’s reply to this questionnaire falls under the remit of the Directorate for Health Information and Research which compiles all the required data/information and duly submits it to the above organizations on an annual basis.  

The joint questionnaire consists of five parts:

1. Health employment and education (e.g. number of physicians, nurses, graduates, etc.).
2. Physical and technical resources (e.g. number of beds, medical equipment, etc.).
3. A EUROSTAT module (e.g. hospital discharges of non-resident patients, hospital technical resources etc.).
4. Health care activities (e.g. number of consultations, hospital discharges, surgical procedures, immunizations, screening and diagnostic exams etc.).
5. Workforce migration (e.g. inflow and stock of physicians).

The Directorate of Health Information and Research is responsible for collecting and collating data from various institutions/divisions so as to return the completed questionnaire to international organizations in an accurate and timely manner.

Annual data collected through this source from Malta and other countries is available from these three organizations through the following online databases/publications:

Database – Eurostat (europa.eu) 

Data collected from the joint questionnaire and published by the statistical office of the European Union.

WHO Health for All database 

Data collected from the joint questionnaire and published by the World Health Organization.  Press ‘Choose Indicators’ to browse the folders and indicators in the database.

OECD Health at a Glance Europe publications 

Publication released every two years since 2010 containing a number of health indicators, including those taken from the joint questionnaire.  

Health at a Glance: Europe

STATISTICS

For updated annual statistics from the NHIS on health care systems (health human resources, physical/technical resources and health care activities) please access the sources outlined above.  

Our Resources page also contains hospital, nursing and residential bed statistics covering the period from 2006 – 2010 which can be downloaded in .pdf format.

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT

The National Hospital Information System may collect and process personal information regarding hospital episodes of care for statistical and research purposes and in the interests of public health. All data is collected and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 (CAP. 586). The System does not disclose identifiable data outside the Health Division unless the law permits. All persons included within the databases in the System are entitled to know what information the System may have collected about them.