NACEL 2025 Figures Data Pack Now Available
The NACEL 2025 Figures Data Pack has been published, providing organisations with a national picture of case ascertainment, submission rates, and variation across acute and community hospital settings for 2025. The pack is intended to help organisations understand how their own data sits within the wider national context — whether they are reviewing performance for 2025 or preparing ahead of NACEL 2026.
About the Data Pack
The Figures Data Pack draws on data submitted as part of the 2025 audit cycle, covering Case Note Reviews (CNRs), Bereavement Surveys, Staff Reported Measures, the Hospital/Site Overviews, and the Annual Death Data Collection. It spans both acute and community hospital settings and presents variation across submissions to support meaningful comparison.
Key Findings
Submission volumes
In 2025, a total of 19,705 Case Note Reviews, 5,994 Bereavement Surveys,14,406 Staff Reported Measures, and 232 Hospital/Site Overviews were submitted. This continues the strong growth in participation seen across the NACEL dataset since 2018.
Case Note Review submission rates
The average number of CNRs submitted per organisation in 2025 was 83, a slight decrease from 87 in 2024. There is notable variation in submission volume across organisations, with some submissions considerably above and below the mean.
Against the national target of 90% of eligible sites (sites with at least 80 eligible deaths in the year) submitting at least 80 CNRs, 86% of sites nationally (149 out of 174 with 80 or more eligible deaths) met this threshold. Acute sites performed strongly at 88% (139/158), while community sites were below target at 63% (10/16).
Bereavement Survey submission rates
The average number of Bereavement Surveys submitted per organisation in 2025 was 25, down from 30 in 2024. As with CNRs, there is wide variation across submissions, and a significant number of organisations received zero responses during the year.
Case ascertainment
Nationally, the mean case ascertainment rate was 27%, with an interquartile range of 11% to 31% and an upper whisker of 66%. There is a marked difference between site types: community sites recorded a considerably higher mean ascertainment of 71% (interquartile range 43%–82%) compared with 15% for acute sites (interquartile range 10%–26%). Two community submissions recorded 0% case ascertainment meaning they had zero elideaths in the year and are excluded from the charts.
Bereavement Survey engagement
67% of all submissions (157 out of 236) received at least one Bereavement Survey response. Of the submissions that completed the Annual Death Data Collection, 77% (165/214) reported participating in the Bereavement Survey during 2025. Of this group, 88% (145/165) received at least one response.
Looking Ahead
Understanding where your organisation sits within the national picture is an important step in reviewing performance and identifying areas for development. The pack is a useful reference point for teams preparing for NACEL 2026, with data collection now open for care delivered in hospitals from January to December 2026.
If you have any questions about the data pack, please contact the NACEL team.