Thanks to all who have replied about my not being able to update a field. The e-mail that solved my problem was from Soren Breddam in which he suggested that you can't perform an update with a WHERE clause. I used the following to successfully update my field.
Select * From Copy_KGH_Surgeries_LHA Where Elective_vs__Urgent = "Elective" Into A Update A Set Elective_vs___Urgent = "1" Thanks again, Christine
