DATE FIRST SEEN is the Care Contact Date that the PATIENT is first seen in the Trust that receives the first referral.

DATE FIRST SEEN will be one of the following, whichever is the earliest SERVICE relating to the REFERRAL REQUEST:

• first Out-Patient Appointment; this is the ATTENDANCE DATE of the first Out-Patient Attendance Consultant
• first diagnostic procedure if this precedes the first Out-Patient Appointment; this is the first Clinical Intervention Date of the Imaging or Radiodiagnostic Event or CLINICAL INTERVENTION
• first seen as an emergency; this is the Start Date of the Hospital Provider Spell or the Emergency Care Arrival Date of the Emergency Care Attendance
• the date the PATIENT was first seen following referral (or recall) from (or by) a Screening Unit.

DATE FIRST SEEN for the:

• National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring Data Set is:
  • the date when the PATIENT is seen for the first time by a CONSULTANT (or member of their team) or in a clinic following receipt of the REFERRAL REQUEST.
• HIV and AIDS Reporting Data Set is:
  • the date the PATIENT was first seen for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) care at a HIV Clinic Attendance at the current Health Care Provider.