SAMBA
What is SAMBA?
The Society for Acute Medicine (SAM) Benchmarking Audit (SAMBA) is a national benchmark audit of acute medical care. The aim of SAMBA is to describe the severity of illness of acute medical patients presenting to Acute Medicine, the speed of their assessment, their pathway and progress at seven days after admission and to provide a comparison for each participating unit with the national average (or ‘benchmark’).
SAMBA normally takes place at least once a year. Data are collected for patients admitted over a 24hour period, with follow up of clinical outcomes. The first summer audit was undertaken in 30 UK units on 20 June 2012; it has subsequently been repeated on an annual basis in June. In September 2016, a national report was published for the first time.1 The results of SAMBA have been published SAM’s journal, Acute Medicine, and other peer reviewed journals.
The audit is run by SAM. The data collected pertains to:
- Unit structure and staffing levels
- SAM’s clinical quality indicators10
- National guidance or recommendations (e.g. from NICE, NHS England, NHS Improvement)
- Patient demographics
- Age
- Gender
- Severity of illness at presentation using an early warning score (e.g. NEWS2)
- Frailty
- Pathway of care through the hospital
As the title suggests, the audit compares the performance and structure of acute medical services and acute medical units. A national report is then published with the results. Each participating unit receives a bespoke report of their performance against other participating units; to maintain confidentiality, participating units will only be able to access their own data, all other units will be anonymised.
Anonymised data (i.e. hospitals will not be identifiable) will be analysed within the Health Data Research UK Digital Innovation Hub for Acute Care (PIONEER), based at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, as agreed by members of SAM council. HRA approval has been granted for this analysis.
We will never release identifiable unit data to a third party, unless required to do so by law. We have never been asked or challenged to release data. Public bodies are obliged to release data under the freedom of information act. We have been advised that an individual patient can ask for access to their data, for example if they were making a complaint or legal challenge regarding their care.
Individual units will not be identified, or their data shared with anyone, without your permission, unless required to do so by law and as per the caveats outlined in the paragraph above. Participating units will be credited in the SAMBA report. The pooled database will be the intellectual property of the Society for Acute Medicine. Participating units are free to share their own data with other organisations. Important findings from the audit may also be written-up for submission to peer reviewed journals and individual units will not be identified.
SAMBA24
The Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit 2024 took place on 20th June 2024.
Your contact details will be used to contact you for matters related to SAMBA. Users will be registered in batches, prior to the day of data collection.
For Trusts that have more than one hospital, please register each hospital site separately. Please take care to write out the hospital name in full, with no abbreviations.
Please let us know if you wish to be lead for your unit.
If you have any questions, please email samba@acutemedicine.org.uk for more information.
We’ll email all registered participants closer to SAMBA day to ensure you have relevant information.
A Caldicott Approval form will need to be completed for SAMBA24.
Below please find:
The unit questionnaire was sent to all registered email addresses prior to the 20th June.
Please start arranging your SAMBA24 data collectors for the 20th June 2024 and ensure that your Caldicott Guardian has approved data release. Also, your local audit team should be made aware and approve of SAMBA24 using your usual local permissions. The data entry deadline is 23:59 on 9th August 2024.
Any queries, please let us know at samba@acutemedicine.org.uk
SAMBA Winter 24
Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit 2024 Winter Snapshot was conducted on 22nd February 2024.

SAMBA Reports & Articles

Winter SAMBA24 National Report
Winter SAMBA24 took place on 20th February 2024, and aimed to help us understand how our services perform in winter. The report is available here. Many thanks to all the units and colleagues that took part, and supported the running of Winter SAMBA24. If you require a copy of your local report or data, or have…

SAMBA23 Protocol
SAMBA23 collected information on unit structures, as well as helped us understand more about your acute medicine workforce. Please see below documents used for SAMBA 2023: Caldicott Guardian Form SAMBA23 Protocol SAMBA23 How to Guide SAMBA23 Masterlist SAMBA23 Patient Data Collection Form SAMBA23 Scoring Charts for Patient Data

SAMBA23 National Report
The SAMBA23 national report is now available here. We are grateful for all the work put into taking part in SAMBA23 at each participating site – SAMBA would not be possible without you. If you require a copy of your local report or data, or have any other queries, please email us at samba@acutemedicine.org.uk.

Provision of acute oncology services in the UK: data from the Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit 2022 (SAMBA22)
Acute oncology services (AOS) manage acute cancer-related presentations alongside acute medical teams. This study assessed AOS provision against national peer review measures and the burden of acute cancer-related admissions. The 2022 Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit surveyed UK hospitals, collecting hospital-level and patient-level data for all medical admissions over a 24-h period. Logistic regression…

Older and frail patients waiting longer for emergency care than younger patients – SAMBA data
A study led by the University of Warwick in collaboration with the Society for Acute Medicine has found that younger patients with simpler problems are waiting less time for assessments than older and frailer patients with complex care needs. The study, which utilised data collected in the annual Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit (SAMBA),…

SAMBA22 National Report
The SAMBA22 national report is now available here. A massive thank you once again to all who took part in SAMBA22 – SAMBA would not be possible without you. If you require a copy of your local report or data, or have any other queries, please email us at samba@acutemedicine.org.uk.

SAMBA 2021 Report
SAMBA2021 was the largest round of SAMBA to date, with 158 units taking part, collecting data for almost 9000 patients. The SAMBA2021 national report is now available here. Local reports are still available via the CaseCapture database. A massive thank you once again to all who took part in SAMBA 2021. Please email us with…