Location in SystemView: SystemView > Explore > Surgery > Activity Trends > Elective & Emergency
In this article:
- What it is
- Why it matters
- How to use it
- How it works
- How it helps you
- Best practices
- FAQs / Troubleshooting
What it is
The Elective & Emergency Activity Trends component provides a comprehensive view of surgical activity across both elective and emergency procedures.
It enables users to explore trends at every level - from overall specialty performance down to individual procedures.
Why it matters
Understand surgical performance and workload at a glance.
- Analyse historical activity patterns to inform resource and capacity planning.
- Identify variations in elective and emergency procedure volumes over time.
- Support accurate theatre utilisation and performance reviews.
- Enable surgeons, clinicians and managers to explore trends relevant to their specialty or team.
How to use it
Filter to focus your view
You can explore data by applying filters in the filter bar or dynamically by clicking through charts as you scroll.
This flexibility allows you to interactively drill from hospital-level activity down to specialty, doctor, and procedure-level trends.
Filters include:
- Specialty: Drill down into a specific surgical specialty.
- Doctor: Focus on a specific surgeon's activity.
- Procedures: Refine the view to specific operation codes.
- Time period: View your activity up to 12 months in the past.
Explore surgical activity trends
The charts in this component display the total number of operations performed within the selected time period, broken down by elective and emergency operations.
You can explore activity at the hospital and specialty level, and drill right down to doctor and procedure level for detailed insights.
As you move through the charts, you can quickly see which doctors are performing the highest number of operations within each specialty, and identify who is completing the most emergency cases.
You can also see which procedures are being performed most often, both overall and by individual doctor, helping you understand the types of surgeries contributing most to your activity.
💡 Tip: You can refine your filters as you scroll through the charts — each interaction updates the view below for deeper analysis.
Explore patient-level insights
Select the Patient List button to view all operations that occurred within the selected time period.
This list provides a complete patient-level dataset, ideal for a more detailed review.
This list can be exported to Excel for reporting or further analysis of surgical volumes, case types, and performance trends — see How to export in SystemView for step-by-step instructions.
Toggle trend view
Use the Per Week / Cumulative button at the top of the component to switch between two different ways of looking at your data:
- Per Week: Displays weekly trends of elective and emergency operations.
- Cumulative: Shows the total accumulation of operations over the selected timeframe.
How it works
This component brings together historical data from your hospitals source system on elective and emergency surgeries and turns it into clear, interactive visual trends.
As you scroll, you can click directly on charts or data points to filter the view — letting you move seamlessly from a high-level overview to specific specialties, doctors, or procedures.
Each interaction updates the rest of the charts automatically, so you can keep exploring without having to reset filters or reload the page.
How it helps you
- Stay on top of surgical performance: Track how elective and emergency activity changes over time.
- Spot trends early: Pick up on seasonal patterns, service growth, or dips in workload.
- Drill into the details: Move from big-picture insights to specific procedures or clinicians.
- Access real data fast: Export the patient list to review operations in detail or share in reports.
- Plan with confidence: Use historical activity to guide theatre scheduling and resource planning.
Best practices
How often should I use it
| What to do | How often | Who should do it | Why it helps |
| Review weekly elective and emergency activity | Weekly | Theatre Managers, Clinical Leads | Stay aware of shifts in demand or throughput |
| Analyse specialty-level trends | Monthly | Service Managers, Divisional Directors, Heads of Unit | Plan resources and staffing around activity patterns |
| Monitor hospital-level trends | Monthly | Hospital Executives, Operations Managers | Identify system-wide pressures or improvements in performance |
| Export and review patient lists | As needed | Performance Teams, Data Analysts | Support audits, reporting, and performance reviews |
Pair with these components
- Activity Trends > Elective by Category: View alongside Elective & Emergency to get a detailed breakdown of all elective sessions, helping to see which case types or triage categories are driving activity.
- Elective Schedule Monitor: Use together when planning upcoming theatre sessions. The average case durations in Operating Times and session data in the Schedule Monitor help schedule efficiently based on historical activity.
- Theatre Effectiveness > Utilisation: Combine to understand how surgical activity aligns with utilisation and session efficiency, especially helpful for balancing throughput and available capacity.
- Waiting List > Risks & Projections: Link current surgical activity with upcoming demand to support proactive planning, ideal for overseeing access and performance.
Tips for success
- Use both the filter bar and interactive charts — it’s the fastest way to find what matters to you.
- Toggle between Per Week and Cumulative to see short-term fluctuations versus overall performance.
- Drill down by doctor and procedure to see who is performing the most cases and which surgeries are driving activity.
- Export the patient list for deeper dives or validation against local data.
- Pair this view with scheduling or utilisation components to understand how activity links to capacity.
Want a detailed breakdown?
If you’d like a more detailed look at every filter, chart, and tile in this component, you can download the Elective & Emergency Activity Trends End-User Guide below.
📎 Download: Activity Trends > Elective & Emergency Guide
❓FAQs / Troubleshooting
Q: Why don’t I see data for some specialties?
A: Data visibility depends on how surgical procedures are coded in your hospital’s source system.
Q: When should I use the cumulative view?
A: The cumulative view is great for seeing total surgical activity across your selected timeframe — perfect for monthly or yearly summaries.