Introduction
Nationally available information shows that in Scotland there are over half a million planned admissions to acute hospitals per year (around 0.6 million in 2010/11).
Planned admissions (also known as elective admissions) include day case and inpatient admissions. Trends show that overall there has been a general increase in the number of admissions. There was an increase of 3.3% in day case admissions between 2008/09 and 2009/10 with a very slight decrease between 2009/10 and 2010/11.
The majority of information within this page is currently classed as National Statistics. Currently the statistics are produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, available on the UK Statistics Authority website.
Note that 'acute' hospital care excludes obstetric and psychiatric services.
Summary Statistics
Information is presented within the summary tables on the number of planned, emergency and transfer admissions by specialty and NHS Board of Treatment/Residence. Data is available for number of episodes, continuous stays in hospital (CIS) and patients. All annual information has now been updated to include the financial year ending March 2011. Quarterly summary inpatient, daycase and outpatient data for Scotland and NHS Boards of treatment are also available for quarters ending June 2009 to December 2011.
- Annual information by specialty (Episodes, Stays and Patients) - NHS Board of Residence
[18.0Mb] - Annual information by specialty (Episodes, Stays and Patients) - NHS Board of Treatment [18.9Mb]
- Annual summary information including outpatient activity by NHS Board of Treatment [233Kb]
- Quarterly summary information including outpatient activity by NHS Board of Treatment [233Kb]
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Multiple and All Emergency Admissions
A steady rise in the number of emergency inpatient admissions has been a major source of pressure for the NHS over the past twenty years. The information presented here aims to provide a better understanding of the underlying trends in emergency admissions and in particular multiple emergency admissions.
For the purpose of these analyses, an emergency admission is defined as being a new continuous spell of care in hospital where the patient was admitted as an emergency. If a patient has more than one unplanned continuous spell of treatment in hospital in one year, this is defined as a multiple emergency admission for that patient. For more detailed information on how emergency admissions, multiple emergency admissions and bed days are defined and calculated, please see the Multiple and All Emergency Admissions Interpretation document 
[960KB].
Detailed Information
Multiple Emergency Admissions [9.5Mb]
Emergency Admissions [4.1Mb]
Sex, Age and Deprivation [11.9Mb]
65 years and over [2.5Mb]
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HEAT Target - Over 65s
As emergency admissions for the elderly population are of particular interest, the Scottish Government developed a HEAT target which relates to the number of occupied bed days for patients aged 65 and over who were admitted as an emergency:
- By 2010/11, NHS Boards will reduce the emergency inpatient bed days for people aged 65 and over, by 10% compared with 2004/05.
Assessment of performance in relation to the HEAT target (T12) continues to be measured using information based on year of admission rather than year of discharge.
HEAT Data - Over 65s [1.8mb]
HEAT Target - Over 75s
The Scottish Government developed a new HEAT target for emergency admissions to sustain focus on this important aspect of NHS performance. The amendment to this target sharpens the focus on the subgroup of patients aged 75 and over who have longer hospital stays and a higher risk of HAI, delayed discharge and institutional care outcomes.
By 2011/12, NHS Boards will reduce the number of emergency inpatient bed days for people aged 75 and over, compared with 2009/10.
HEAT Data - Over 75s [1.5mb]
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Further information on HEAT can be found on the Scotland Performs Website.
Childhood Hospital Admissions
Children may be admitted to an acute hospital for a number of reasons including: specialist diagnostic procedures; emergency treatment following accidents; and routine, complex and life saving surgery. In some instances the admission will be planned (known as an elective admission) and in some cases unplanned (an emergency admission). These admissions may be day case admissions (they do not remain overnight) or as an inpatient admission (they stay overnight).
The Excel files below contain information relating to children aged 14 and under who have been discharged from an acute hospital during the financial years 2006/07 to 20010/11. Data is available for number of episodes, continuous stays in hospital (CIS) and patients.
Childhood Activity Summary tables - by NHS Board of Residence [27Mb]
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- In 2010/11 there were around 102,000 hospital admissions (episodes) for children aged 14 years and under. This is a decrease of 3.5% on the previous year.
In children aged 14 years and under, emergency admissions are more common than planned admissions (the reverse is true for adults).
- In 2010/11, there were 55,000 emergency inpatient admissions (episodes) for children aged 14 years and under compared to the 11,000 elective inpatient admissions. There were 28,000 day case episodes. 62.9% (35,000) of the 55,000 emergency admissions (episodes) were for children aged 0 to 4 years.
The most common specialties that children are admitted to are medical paediatrics, surgical paediatrics, dental/oral surgery, ENT (ear, nose and throat), and orthopaedics.
Data on the number of main procedures [10.4Mb] performed and the number of episodes by main diagnosis [6.8Mb] for children aged 14 years and under are available within the Hospital Care Diagnoses and Operations/Procedures pages.
Further Childhood Health Information under the Child Heath Topic including information on immunisation, infant feeding, and children's weight and growth.
Average Length of Stay
Average Length of Stay [125Kb]
The average length of stay for routine and non-routine episodes for financial years 2006/07 to 2010/11. This table contains the data for the HEAT target E4 - Non-Routine Average Length of Inpatient Stay.
