The EPISODE NUMBER (NEONATAL CRITICAL CARE SPELL) is used to sequentially identify each CRITICAL CARE PERIOD within a Neonatal Critical Care Spell. The first CRITICAL CARE PERIOD identifier commences at 1; subsequent CRITICAL CARE PERIODS during the same Neonatal Critical Care Spell (within the same or different Health Care Providers) are then incremented by 1.

For example:

• A Neonate is admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Trust A, starting a CRITICAL CARE PERIOD and generating EPISODE NUMBER (NEONATAL CRITICAL CARE SPELL) 1.
• The Neonate is then transferred to a different Health Care Provider, Trust B (ending the CRITICAL CARE PERIOD at Trust A), which generates EPISODE NUMBER (NEONATAL CRITICAL CARE SPELL) 2.
• The Neonate may then return to Trust A (ending the CRITICAL CARE PERIOD at Trust B), generating EPISODE NUMBER (NEONATAL CRITICAL CARE SPELL) 3.

This data element is also known by these names:

Context	Alias
plural	EPISODE NUMBERS (NEONATAL CRITICAL CARE SPELL)