Page last updated: 17-NOV-2009

News and Releases

This page presents the latest releases from ISD in chronological order, for the current calendar year. Please scroll down the list to view older items or quickly jump to your selected date using the list of months in the grey bar to the right hand side of this page. All items listed here are linked to the relevant 'Press Release', 'Notice of Statistical Publication' or page within the site. For items from previous years please view our archive page.

To see our forthcoming releases please view our forthcoming page and to receive notification of future updates please select your areas of interest from our registration page.


November 2009

17 November 2009
Cancer Waiting Times ( April- June 2009 )

Previous quarterly reports have been published by the Scottish Government. The quarter of April-June 2009 is the first quarter published directly by Information Services Division of NHS Scotland.

  • 95.7% of reported urgently referred patients diagnosed with cancer in Scotland during April -June 2009 began treatment within 2 months (62 days). This is a small decrease from 96.0% in the previous quarter and up from 87.3 % in April-June 2007. The target set by the Scottish Government is 95%.
  • The mainland NHS Boards with the highest and lowest proportions of patients starting treatment within 62 days of urgent referral were NHS Lothian (97.2%) and NHS Dumfries and Galloway (91.8%) respectively.
  • The cancer types with the highest and lowest proportions of patients starting treatment within 62 days of urgent referral were cancer of the breast (98.4%) and lymphoma cancers (92.7%), respectively.
  • NHSScotland met the national target to treat 95% of urgently referred cancer patients within two months for the first time in the reporting period of October to December 2008, and this has continued through the period April-June 2009.

10 November 2009
Surgical Profiles

This report describes the second cycle of the surgical profiles project, including summary of how NHS Boards are using the data in the profile to support improvements in patient care. The aim of this project is to lead to better and more widespread use of existing Scotland-wide data sources in guiding improvements to surgical care and outcomes for patients.

Collectively, the NHS Board responses have improved for the second cycle of the surgical profile and throughout Scotland there have been a wide range of actions to review and respond to the profile and facilitate improvement in patient care.

October 2009

27 October 2009
Cancer Mortality (2008)

In recent years, the overall age-standardised cancer mortality rates have fallen for both males and females. However, there is considerable variation in trends for different types of cancer. For example, the rate of female deaths due to colorectal cancer has decreased 16% over the last 10 years, while female death rates due to lung cancer have increased more than 11% over the same time period.

Although the age-standardised rate of death due to cancer has decreased, the actual number of deaths due to cancer has increased: this largely reflects an increase in older age groups within the population, and the fact that cancer is a relatively common disease among older people.

Significant patterns exist when examining incidence and mortality rates by deprivation in Scotland. The most deprived areas have higher incidence and mortality rates for all cancers combined. However, there are variations in this pattern when looking at specific types of cancer, for example malignant melanoma.

27 October 2009
The Scotland and European Health for All (HfA) Database 2009

The European HfA Database is provided by the World Health Organisation’s Regional Office for Europe. This, the Scotland and European HfA Database 2009 is produced by the Scottish Public Health Observatory.

This update of the database comprises:

  • 600 health and health-related indicators, with Scottish data available for 490
  • time trends based on annual data, from 1970 to 2007 where available
  • data for Scotland and the 53 Member States currently in the WHO European Region, including the UK, plus averages such as the European Union.

The database provides a quick and easy-to-use tool to examine (via graphs and tables) patterns in a wide range of indicators, both over time and comparing Scotland's position within Europe. Accompanying briefing notes provide a summary of the findings and some interpretation.

27 October 2009
Key Clinical Indicators (KCIs) for Sexual Health: ‘Population Based’ Data for 2008

Female Sterilisation: 12.3 women per 10,000 (aged 15 – 49) had a sterilisation procedure in 2008, compared to 12.6 in 2007.

Vasectomy: A total of 41.3 per 10,000 men (aged 15 – 59) in Scotland had a vasectomy in 2008, compared with 40.1 in 2007.

Termination of Pregnancy: The proportion of early terminations has been rising steadily in more recent years, with 56.8% of all terminations performed at less than 9 completed weeks gestation in 2008. This figure has risen by 2.6 percentage points from 2007. The termination of pregnancy data have been published previously at www.isdscotland.org/abortions

Long acting reversible methods of contraception (LARC): The uptake of LARC continues to increase.
The uptake of very long acting methods (Implanon (the implant), IUDs (the coil) and Mirena (IUS)) increased from 40.6 per 1000 women aged 15 – 49 in 2007/2008 to 59.1 in 2007/2008. All of NHS boards have increased their uptake of these very long acting or ‘lasting’ methods.

27 October 2009
Dental Statistics up to quarter ending 30th June 2009.

The percentage of the Scottish population registered with an NHS GDS dentist is 81.7% for children and 63.0% for adults as at 30th June 2009. This is an increase from 80.1% for children and 61.3% for adults as at 31st March 2009

There has been a 7.5% and 15.4% increase in the number of registrations for children and adults respectively from 30th June 2008 to 30th June 2009.

06 October 2009
Estimating the national and local prevalence of problem drug misuse in Scotland

Contains estimates for 2006, including figures for health boards and council areas.

  • The estimated prevalence of problem drug users in Scotland in 2006 is 55,328. This corresponds to 1.6% of the population (aged between 15 and 64).
  • The highest prevalence rate amongst NHS boards is in Greater Glasgow & Clyde (2.5%).
  • The percentage of problem drug users who are male is estimated to be 70%.
  • The estimated prevalence of drug injecting in Scotland in 2006 is 23,933. This corresponds to 0.7% of the population (aged between 15 and 64).

September 2009

29 September 2009
Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) of the new General Medical Services contract. Achievement, exception reporting and detailed prevalence data 2008/09

  • Across all practices with a new General Medical Services (GMS) contract in Scotland the average QOF points achieved, out of a maximum of 1000 available, has fallen slightly from 982.2 (98.2%) in 2007/08 to 972.0 (97.2%) in 2008/09. This difference is mainly attributable to relatively low achievement in 2008/09 against the two new patient experience indicators, PE07 and PE08.
  • Total funding associated with the QOF in 2008/09 was approximately £128 million, down from roughly £131 million in 2007/08. QOF payments are part of a total of around £705 million invested annually in Primary Medical Services across Scotland.
  • Amongst individual health conditions included in the QOF, the biggest improvement in achievement for 2008/09 compared with 2007/08 was observed for the mental health indicator group. On average, practices with GMS contracts achieved 95.9% of the 39 points available for mental health indicators, compared with 94.7% in 2007/08.

29 September 2009
Births in Scottish hospitals, financial year 2007/2008

  • The number of births in Scotland is increasing with 56,821 births for year ending March 2008.
  • For singleton births, a mother living in an area of high deprivation is twice as likely to have a low birthweight baby (under 2500g) compared to a mother in an area of low deprivation. 
  • Births to mothers aged 30-34 have risen steadily and this is now the most common age to have a baby, accounting for 27% of all maternities in 2008, slightly down from 2007. The equivalent for 1976 in this age group was 13%.
  • After falling from 13.5% in 1980 to 6.8% in 2001 the use of forceps in delivery has risen over the last 8 years and is now at 9.4%.
  • In singleton births, the emergency caesarean section rate increased from 3.9% in 1976 to a peak of 15.4% in 2006, followed by a slight drop in the last 2 years to 14.7%. The rate of elective* or planned caesarean sections has continued to rise from 4.7% in 1976 to 10.1% in 2008. Together this resulted in an overall increase in caesarean section rates from 8.6% in 1976 to 24.7% in 2008.

    *An elective caesarean section refers to a caesarean section, which has been planned in advance and in most cases will have been recommended for clinical reasons such as breech or multiple births or previous caesarean section. It may also be the case that the woman will have chosen this method of delivery for non-clinical reasons.

29 September 2009
Drug Treatment Waiting Times Information Framework Report Apr-Jun 2009

Time from referral to assessment date offered.

  • In Apr-Jun 2009, just over 65% of those offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date which fell within the reporting period and was within 14 days of referral.
  • Of those who were still waiting for an appointment for assessment, approximately 10% had waited more than 52 weeks by the end of June 2009.

Time waited for first intervention

  • In Apr-Jun 2009, just under 90% of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 14 days of the date a care plan was agreed.
  • Of those who were still waiting for a treatment appointment at the end of the reporting period, just over 5% had waited more than 52 weeks by the end of June 2009.

29 September 2009
Acute Hospital Activity to 31 March 2008 (annual data) and to 30 June 2009 (quarterly data)

Quarterly and annual summary of activity in the acute sector of NHSScotland. This release will include inpatient, day case and outpatient activity, multiple emergency admissions, beds data and Nurse and AHP activity.

  • The total number of hospital discharges (episodes) has increased by 2.1% to 1,345,000 in the year ending March 2008 from 1,317,000 in 2007.
  • Neoplasms (including cancer) were the most common main diagnosis for patients discharged from hospital in the year ending March 2008, accounting for 14.1% of all primary diagnoses.
  • For patients aged 65 years and over admitted as an emergency, occupied bed days appear to have leveled off at around 2.8 million in recent years, up to the year ending March 2008.  This data may be subject to slight change in future releases.
  • 1,219,000 inpatient and day case procedures were carried out in NHS Scotland in 2008, an increase of 2.4% from 1,190,000 in 2007.
  • 4,500,000 outpatients were seen at consultant clinics in the year ending March 2008, showing a slight increase of 0.3% when compared to year ending March 2007.  In 2007/08, 1,387,000 were new outpatient attendances, an increase of 1.5% from 1,365,000 in 2006/07

29 September 2009
Scottish Stroke Care Audit 2009 National Report: Stroke Services in Scottish Hospitals. Data relating to 2007 ? 2008

There is strong evidence that well organised stroke care improves the outcome of patients having a stroke. In Scotland, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHSQIS) have developed guidelines and standards aimed at delivering that care.

  • Proportion of stroke patients admitted to a Stroke Unit within 1 day of admission to hospital. Stroke unit care is associated with reduced risk of dying and disability after a stroke. The current NHSQIS standard is that at least 70% of patients should be admitted to a stroke unit within a day of admission. In 2008 57% (2007: 56 %) of patients were admitted to a stroke unit within one day of admission.
  • Proportion having a documented Swallow screen on day of admission. About half of all stroke patients will not be able to swallow safely on admission to hospital. If given fluids or food inappropriately patients may develop, and possibly die from, pneumonia and if not treated appropriately they may become dehydrated and malnourished which may lead to slowed recovery and/or worse outcome. The current NHSQIS standard is that all patients should have a swallow screen on the day of admission. In 2008 46% (2007:42%) of patients had a swallow screen recorded on day of admission.
  • Proportion having a brain scan within 2 days of admission. A brain scan is essential to confirm the diagnosis of stroke and to distinguish stroke due to ischaemia (a blocked blood vessel) or a haemorrhage (burst blood vessel). Treatments for a blocked blood vessel are very dangerous to those with a burst blood vessel. The current NHSQIS standard is that at least 80% should have a brain scan within 2 days of admission. In 2008 89% (2007: 87%) of patients had a brain scan within two days of admission.
  • Proportion of patients with ischaemic stroke who receive aspirin within 2 days of admission. Aspirin started within the first 2 days reduces the proportion of patients having recurrent strokes and residual disability. The NHSQIS standard is that all patients should receive aspirin within 2 days unless contraindicated. In 2008 76% (2007: 69%) of ischaemic stroke patients received aspirin within two days of admission.
  • Proportion of patients with a mini stroke (transient ischaemic attack), who do not need immediate admission, assessed in a specialist neurovascular clinic within 14 and 7 days of receipt of referral. The risk of a stroke within the first week is at least 10%. Appropriate treatment can halve this risk but only if started very early. The NHSQIS standard is that 80% should be seen within 14 days and ideally within 7 days. In 2008 81% (2007: 65%) of patients seen in neurovascular clinics were seen within 14 days. In 2008 59% (2007: 44%) of patients seen in neurovascular clinics were seen within 7 days

29 September 2009
Scottish ECT Accreditation Network Annual Report 2009; Reporting on 2008

This report summarises data collected via an electronic care pathway installed in all Scottish ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy ) treatment clinics for the purpose of measuring performance against clinical standards. Information contained in this report relates to patient characteristics, legal status, diagnoses, details of interventions and clinical outcomes.

  • In 2008, there were 436 episodes of ECT with 362 patients being treated. There has generally been a downward trend in the use of ECT, however trends vary amongst hospitals.
  • More than 75% of the ECT episodes that occurred in Scotland in 2008 involved patients who were capable of giving informed consent.
  • The majority of patients undergoing ECT treatment do so because of a depressive episode, either single, recurrent or in relation to a bipolar affective disorder.
  • 74% percent of patients with capacity (patients? ability to give informed consent) and 86% of patients without capacity showed a definite improvement following ECT.

29 September 2009
NHS Complaints

The NHS Complaint publication reports on the number of complaints received by NHS Boards and other NHS organisations, for the time period 1996/97 to 2008/09. The publication summarises complaints made about Hospital & Community Health Services and Family Health Services, and reports on items such as the time taken to deal with complaints, outcome and issues raised.

  • The number of complaints for Hospital and Community Services has continued to fall  in recent years, with 6,904 complaints received in 2008/09.
  • 68.4% of complaints were dealt with within the national target of 20 working days in 2008/09. 
  • In 2008/09, around 37% of all issues raised related to staffing issues, and 29% related to treatment.  Around 14% of issues raised related to environment and domestic issues.  The percentage of issues relating to waiting times was 10%.
  • The number of complaints for Family Health Services was estimated at 3,175 in 2008/09, and we expect to confirm a slight increase when compared against 2007/08 (3,073 complaints received). The totals for Family Health Services in NHS Highland are to be finalised, and as such an estimate based on the previous two-years data has been used in the interim and applied to the national total

29 September 2009
Older People Services: Measuring Relative Need: Statistical Report 2009

This report contains information on the care needs and dependency of older people in a range of care settings. Older people in long stay hospital wards generally had markedly higher care and dependency needs than residents in care homes.

  • A difference in care needs and dependency characteristics exists between the NHS long stay care of the elderly and care homes. An illustration of this is that 46% of older people in hospital wards had a need for special care as defined by the SHRUGs questionnaire; in terms of SCRUGs the figure for care homes was 17%.
  • A substantially higher percentage of hospital patients awaiting placement fell into the lowest dependency group compared to those not awaiting placement. The definition for awaiting placement for SHRUGs over the past few years has been "residents who are awaiting placement to supported accommodation, e.g. care homes".
  • The proportion of hospital patients classified within the highest dependency group has increased from 29% in the year ending March 2004 to 35% in the period between October 2008 and July 2009.
  • The percentage of patients with needs for special care/and or clinically complex treatments has increased from 41% in the year ending March 2004 to 49% in the period between October 2008 and July 2009.

29 September 2009
ScotPHO website section updates

  • Diabetes: Ketoacidosis is a life-threatening complication of diabetes. Previously unpublished figures show a sharp increase in the number of cases admitted to Scottish hospitals, in line with the overall increase in cases of diabetes in Scotland.
  • Allergy: Figures on consultations in primary care and on hospital admissions have been updated to March 2008. In 2008 the most common allergic condition for which patients consulted their general practice was asthma - an estimated 270,000 people consulted at least once during the year. Around 150,000 people consulted because of eczema or dermatitis.
  • Obesity: Updated estimates for obesity related diseases using Scottish prevalence data on obesity from the 2003 Scottish Health Survey.

29 September 2009
Alcohol Brief Interventions 2008-09
Prescribing Statistics and Minor Ailment Service
Reimbursement and remuneration paid to dispensing contractors, and quarterly update of prescription charges

24 September 2009
HPV immunisation uptake rates 2008/09

HPV immunisation uptake rates for girls offered the vaccine in the first year of the HPV Immunisation Programme which started on 1 September 2008.

  • Overall uptake of HPV immunisation amongst girls in second, fifth and sixth year of secondary school in Scotland in 2008/09 is 93.5% for the first dose, 92.4% for the second dose and 87.7% for the third dose.
  • Interim statistics on uptake of HPV immunisation for girls in the catch-up cohort who have left school (aged 16 and 17) is 43.1% for the first dose and 35.0% for the second dose.   As NHS Boards are at different stages of their catch-up programme this may affect the reported uptake rates in some areas. As some girls will have started their course of immunisations relatively recently, uptake rates are expected to increase for the second dose in particular.

24 September 2009
Childhood immunisation uptake rates, quarter ending 30 June 2009

Update of quarterly childhood immunisation uptake rates for children aged 12 months, 24 months, 5 years and 6 years.  Includes data to 30 June 2009.

  • In Scotland as a whole, quarterly uptake rates by 24 months of age for primary courses of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib, MenC and PCV remain high and stable at around 96% to 98%.
  • Quarterly uptake of one dose of MMR by 24 months is 93.3%.  This is an increase of 0.4 percentage points on the previous quarterly figure.  Quarterly uptake by 5 years of age is 96.2%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points on the previous quarterly figure.
  • Quarterly uptake of the Hib/MenC booster vaccination by 24 months rose to 94.1% this quarter (93.7% in previous quarter).  Quarterly uptake of the PCV booster by 24 months is 93.8%, the same as the previous quarterly figure.  These vaccines were introduced to the childhood immunisation schedule in September 2006 along with the other substantial changes to the programme mentioned above.

2 September 2009
Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality Annual Report on 2008 data  

Analyses of deaths under the care of surgeons in acute hospitals in Scotland- by the SASM Board.

  • Alcohol abuse was a factor in 1 in 15 reported deaths.
  • Delivery of palliative care to patients in Scotland dying under the care of surgeons is satisfactory, but there are still areas for improvement.
  • Consultant involvement in the management of patients continues to increase.
  • Following recommendation in the 2007 report, there has been a welcome increase in the number of cases discussed at local clinical governance meetings.

August 2009

25 August 2009
Scottish Cervical Screening Programme Statistics 2008/2009

Annual & quarterly update of cervical screening statistics to 31 March 2009. Includes uptake, reporting times, number of smears processed and results 

  • Over 450,500 cervical smears were processed in the year ending March 2009, resulting in a 20% increase  (over 75,000 smears) from the previous year; the largest number of smears processed in any one year since 2001-02.
  • Of all the smears processed, 97% were satisfactory. Approximately 92% of satisfactory smears had a negative result and 3.5% had some degree of pre-cancerous change.
  • As at 31 March 2009, 73.4% of eligible women had been screened in the previous 3.5 years, a rise of approximately 4% from 31 March 2008. Uptake rates have improved across all five year age bands within the target age group of 20-60 years. The largest increase in uptake, of more than 6%, was found in the lowest age band of 20-24 years.

25 August 2009
Scottish Bowel Screening Programme Statistics

First publication of bowel screening statistics for NHS Boards participating in the programme. This current release includes data for 9 NHS Boards for the period June 2007 to end April 2009

  • Uptake was higher in women (60.4% ) than in men (53.0%).
  • Uptake was lower in more deprived areas
  • Men were more likely than women to have a positive screening test result
  • More cancers were detected in men than in women

25 August 2009
Waiting times and waiting lists to 30th June 2009 (monthly and quarterly data)

Monthly and quarterly summary of waiting times and waiting lists in the acute sector of NHSScotland (includes data to 30th June 2009)

  • At 30 June 2009, over 99.9% of new outpatients (GP/GDP referrals only) and over 99.8% of inpatients and day cases were waiting less than the 15-week national standard. This is the statistic used by NHS Boards from 31 December 2007 to measure performance against Scottish Government waiting times standards. 
  • At 30 June 2009, over 99.9% of new outpatients (GP/GDP referrals only) and approximately 99.6% of inpatients and day cases were waiting less than 12 weeks. 12 weeks is the new national standard that comes into place from 31 March 2010 (for all referral sources).
  • 99.9% of new outpatients seen and 99.7% of inpatients and day cases treated in quarter ending 30 June 2009 had waited less than 15 weeks.
  • 99.4% of new outpatients seen and 98.5% of inpatients and day cases treated in quarter ending 30 June 2008 had waited less than 12 weeks.
  • 97.7% 0f patients attending A&E departments during quarter ending 30 June 2009 were admitted, discharged or transferred within 4 hours


25 August 2009
Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland (formerly Patients Ready for Discharge) figures from the July 2009 Census.  

This publication presents the latest statistics on NHS hospital inpatients ?ready for discharge? but whose discharge has been delayed. The data is taken from a snapshot of NHS inpatients as at the July 2009 census. 

  • There were 55 patients delayed for over 6 weeks in the July 2009 census. This compares with zero at the April 2009 census and 44 at the July 2008 census.
  • At the July 2009 census, there were a total of 634 delayed discharges in Scotland, compared with 468 at the April 2009 census, and 601 at the July 2008 census.

25 August 2009
Influenza Update 2008/09

This release gives an update on flu related activity in primary care for the 2008/09 winter flu season. It includes figures on vaccinations and GP consultations for influenza in general (derived from Practice Team Information) but does NOT cover the more recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza

  • Patient consultations with GPs for flu-like illness remained at low levels throughout the winter of 2008/09 with the main rise occurring in January 2009
  • For the 2008/09 season, the recorded vaccination uptake rate in patients aged 65 and over (one of the main groups included in Scottish Government vaccination targets) was 76.3%. This is well over the target of 70%, and a slight increase compared to the previous year (74.1%)
  • Provisional figures suggest that for the 2008/09 season almost 1.1 million flu vaccines were dispensed by community pharmacies to general practices across Scotland. Total cost of these dispensed vaccines (including handling and other fees payable), is expected to cost approximately £6.0 million


25 August 2009
Improving ethnic data collection for equality and diversity monitoring

Routine recording of ethnicity is required by legislation and would allow the NHS to ensure fair and equal treatment for all ethnic groups.

  • For Scotland as a whole, the recording of ethnicity remains low: a valid ethnic group code was recorded in only 23.7% of inpatient and daycase records (SMR01) and only 14.7% of new outpatient appointment records (SMR00) in the quarter ending March 2009.


18 August
Cancer Waiting Times January-March 2009

Cancer waiting-time statistics for urgently-referred patients by tumour site and NHS board. This statistical release is published by the Scottish Government.

7 August 2009
Suicide Statistics 2008

  • There were 843 deaths by suicide in Scotland in 2008. This equates to an age-standardised rate of 16.1 per 100,000 population
  • Based on three-year rolling averages there was a 10% fall in suicide rates between 2000-02 and 2006-08. These rates have shown little change since 2003-05 although rates in men have increased marginally in the latest 3-year period.
  • In 2008 the suicide rate for males continues to be around three times that for females.
  • Suicide rates increased with deprivation, with rates in the most deprived areas of Scotland significantly higher than the rate for Scotland generally.
  • Between 1999-03 and 2004-08, the suicide rate decreased in 13 of the 14 NHS Boards and in 26 of the 32 local authorities.

July 2009

28 July 2009
Scottish Breast Screening Programme Statistics 2007/2008

At 31st March 2008:

  • Looking at three year performance standard attendance figures, uptake of breast screening remains similar to last year, at approximately 76%.
  • The proportion of cancers diagnosed pre-operatively has increased by approximately 29% since 1997, from 67.7% to 96.2%.

In 2007-08:

  • 1,378 cases of cancer were diagnosed in women of all ages.
  • 1,123 invasive cancers were detected, of which 53% were less than 15mm in size. These small cancers could not have been detected by hand.

28 July 2009
Dental Statistics

  • The percentage of the Scottish population registered with an NHS GDS dentist is 80.1% for children and 61.3% for adults as at 31st March 2009. This is an increase from 78.7% for children and 59.3% for adults as at 31st December 2008.
  • The number of examinations (clinical, extensive clinical, full case assessment and treatment summary) carried out by NHS GDS dentists in year ending 31st March 2009 was approx 2.3 million, an increase of 109,879 (5%) from year ending 31st March 2008.
  • The total spend on NHS GDS child and adult dental care (total of item of service and registration costs) for year ending 31st March 2009 was almost £222 million, an increase of 10.2% from year ending 31st March 2008.
  • The average cost to the NHS GDS of treating a child during 2008/09 increased from £54 to £60.  The average cost of treating an adult during 2008/09 increased from £35 to £39.

28 July 2009
Childhood hospital admissions and mortality

Update of annual statistics on childhood hospital admissions, up to 2007/08.  Also included are statistics on childhood mortality for calendar year 2007, from previously published death registration data collected by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS).

  • In children under 15 years of age, emergency admissions are more common than planned admissions (approximately 59,000 and 39,000 admissions respectively, in 2007/08).
  • Children under the age of five years have the highest admission rates, largely due to emergency admissions.
  • The most common main diagnoses for emergency admissions were 'Respiratory disorders' (23.0%). For planned admissions, 'Disorders of the teeth, tongue and mouth' were the most common main diagnoses (21.8%); and largely attributable to dental caries.
  • Overall, admission rates for children under 15 years of age in 2007/08 are similar to rates in 2005/06 and 2006/07.  The most common diagnoses and procedures/ operations carried out have also remained broadly similar.

This has been rescheduled from March to June 2009 due to workload associated with other National Statistics releases produced by the team.  This publication has been rescheduled for July to allow additional time for quality assurance.

28 July 2009
Genito-urinary Medicine ( GUM ) Statistics, year ending December 2008

Update of annual statistical information on sexually transmitted infections diagnosed at Genito-urinary Medicine clinics in Scotland

  • There was a 16% increase in the overall workload (all diagnoses, consultations, screens and conditions seen) in GUM clinics in Scotland in 2008, compared to 2007.
  • In 2008, the number of acute Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) diagnosed in GUM clinics in Scotland was 23171.  This is a very slight increase over last year, when there were 22906 diagnoses made.
  • In 2008, as seen in previous years, more new acute STIs were in men, with the number of diagnoses of syphilis, gonorrhoea, genital warts, NSGI (non-specific genital infection) non-chlamydial, HIV and other STIs being higher in men than women.  The number of diagnoses of chlamydia, genital herpes and trichomoniasis was greater in women.
  • Almost a quarter of all acute STI diagnoses are in those aged less than 20

28 July 2009
Mental Health (Psychiatric) Hospital Activity Statistics

  • There were around 23,400 inpatient admissions to mental health hospitals during the year ending 31 March 2008. This continues the downward trend seen in recent years and represents a 20% fall in the number of admissions since 2003.
  • In 2007/8, around 58% of all inpatient mental health admissions were re-admissions. This percentage is similar to those of the previous five years.
  • The number of patients who had a psychiatric readmission (within one year of a previous psychiatric admission) has decreased steadily between the years ending 31 December 2004 and 30 September 2007, from over 4,500 to around 3,700 - a reduction of around 20%.  It should be noted that data for the year ending 30 September 2007 may be incomplete and are subject to change in future releases.
  • Alcohol/drug related problems were responsible for 23% of all discharge diagnoses in men and schizophrenia accounted for a further 21%.  For women, mood (affective) disorders accounted for 34% of the diagnoses recorded, while dementia diagnoses were identified in 14% of discharges.
  • In 2007/8, one half of all mental health discharges had a hospital length of stay of 2 weeks or less.

28 July 2009
Web based Clinical Outcome Indicators ? year end 30.06.08

Six monthly update of trends for six established acute care indicators. Figures are available at NHS Board and hospital level for years ending 30th June 1999 ? 2008

  • 86.1% of patients survived 30 days after emergency admission for Acute Myocardial Infarction in Scotland in year ending 30th June 2008.
  • 93.0% of patients survived 30 days after emergency admission for Hip Fracture in Scotland in year ending 30th June 2008.
  • 80.7% of patients survived 30 days after emergency admission for Stroke in Scotland in year ending 30th June 2008.
  • The percentage of deaths within 30 days of surgery for patients undergoing a group of 12 operations on an elective basis for Scotland was 0.23% in year ending 30th June 2008.

Also published are:

General Ophthalmic Services ? year ending 31 March 2009

Audit of Critical Care in Scotland 2009

Findings from the Balance of Care / Continuing Care Census, 31st March 2009

June 2009

30 June 2009
Alcohol-related mortality and morbidity

  • The study is the first of its kind for Scotland based on Scottish consumption data and more accurately estimates the burden of harm from alcohol problems compared with current routine reporting.
  • Fifty three conditions were identified where alcohol plays a contributory role.

  • 1 in 20 (2,882) deaths in Scotland in 2003 were estimated to be attributable to alcohol, twice as many as previously routinely reported.

  • Alcohol problems also cause a considerable burden to the health care system, accounting for over an estimated 1 in 20 of all patient discharges in 2003.

30 June 2009
Teenage Pregnancies 2007

  • The teenage pregnancy rate has been fairly steady for the past decade. In 2007, in the under 16 age group there were 8.1 pregnancies per 1,000, the same rate as 2006. The rates in the older age groups have risen slightly with the under 18s rising from 41.5 per 1,000 in 2006 to 42.4 per 1,000 in 2007 and the under 20s from 57.9 per 1,000 to 58.6 per 1,000.
  • Over the years there has been a change in the balance between teenage conceptions which are aborted, and those which continue to delivery. In the under 18 and under 20 age groups the rate of abortion has risen slightly but still remains considerably lower than the delivery rate. In the under 16 year age group the abortion rate has been higher than the delivery rate since 2001.
  • There is a strong deprivation gradient. In the under 20s, the most deprived groups have approximately ten times the rate of delivery as the least deprived (70.4 per 1,000 and 8.3 per 1,000) and nearly twice the rate of abortion (31.0 per 1,000 and 17.3 per 1,000) These proportions have not varied much over the most recently available eight years, and do not vary much with age

30 June 2009
NHSScotland Workforce Statistics

  • The overall time lost due to sickness absence in NHSScotland for the year end 31 March 2009 is 4.95%.
  • Comparing 2007/08 to 2006/07, the cost of employing agency nursing and midwifery staff has decreased by 15% while the cost of employing bank nursing and midwifery staff has increased by 11%.
  • Comparing 2007/08 to 2006/07, the usage of agency nursing and midwifery staff has decreased by 24% while the usage of bank nursing and midwifery has increased by 5%.

30 June 2009
Prescribing Statistics

  • The number of items dispensed continues to increase. The number of prescription items dispensed in Scotland (excluding Minor Ailment Service & Stock Order) increased by 4% to 84.2 million from 2007/08 to 2008/09. Over the same period, the gross ingredient cost increased to £957.4 million (1%).
  • Almost 200,000 (118%) more prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) were sold in 2008/09 compared to 2007/08.
  • also released, statistics on prescribing remuneration.

30 June 2009
Drug Treatment Waiting Times  

Time from referral to assessment date offered

  • In Jan-Mar 2009, approximately 60% of those offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date which fell within the reporting period and was within 14 days of referral
  • Of those who were still waiting for an appointment for assessment, approximately 20% had waited more than 52 weeks by the end of March 2009

Time waited for first intervention

  • In Jan-Mar 2009, approximately 90% of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 14 days of the date a care plan was agreed
  • Of those who were still waiting for a treatment appointment at the end of the reporting period, approximately 30% had waited more than 52 weeks by the end of March 2009

30 June 2009
Provision of Injecting Equipment in Scotland, 2007/08

  • A total of 205 Injecting Equipment Provision (IEP) services responded to the survey (169 pharmacies and 36 agencies). Not all services answered all questions.
  • An estimated 35,788 clients were reported to have attended IEP services in 2007/08.
  • A total of 3.9 million needles/syringes were distributed in 2007/08. Pharmacies provided just over 2 million of these. An estimated total of 2.3 million needles/syringes were returned.

Also published 30 June 2009:

Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) of the new GMS contract - Scotland-level prevalence figures 2008/09 

Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland - Supplementary Information by Community Health Partnership from April 2009 census.

ScotPHO (Scottish Public Health Observatory) website annual section updates

23 June 2009

Childhood immunisation uptake rates, quarter and year ending 31 March 2009

  • In Scotland as a whole, quarterly uptake rates by 24 months of age for primary courses remain high and stable at around 96% to 98% of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Meningitis C (MenC)  and Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV).
  • Quarterly uptake of one dose of (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)  by 24 months increased slightly to 92.9%.  Quarterly uptake by 5 years of age remains at 95.6% and exceeds the 95% target.
  • Quarterly uptake of the Hib/MenC booster vaccination by 24 months rose to 93.7% this quarter (92.0% in previous quarter).  Quarterly uptake of the PCV booster by 24 months rose to 93.8% (in the previous quarter uptake was 93.3%).  These vaccines were introduced to the childhood immunisation schedule in September 2006.


23 June 2009

Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey

This is the most recent of a series of school surveys used to monitor and measure smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in Scotland.  The survey was carried out in autumn 2008 and was completed by over 10,000 pupils aged 13 years old and 15 years old, across Scotland. 

  • Among 13 year olds the proportion who report being regular smokers remained much the same in 2006 and 2008 (3% in both years for boys and dropping, although not significantly, from 5% in 2006 to 4% in 2008 for girls).  Among 15 year old girls, prevalence is continuing to decline (18% in 2006 dropping to 16% in 2008).  However, the proportion of 15 year old boys who are regular smokers has increased from 12% in 2006 to 14% in 2008
  • There has been a decrease, in the proportion of pupils reporting that they had a drink in the last week, between 2006 and 2008. The proportion of 13 year olds has declined from 14% to 11% and, for 15 year olds, the proportion has declined from 36% to 31%.
  • Twenty per cent of 15 year olds and 5% of 13 year olds reported they had used drugs in the last year and 13% of 15 year olds and 3% of 13 year olds reported that they had used drugs in the last month. By far the most common drug taken was cannabis.  There has been little change in prevalence since 2006.

May 2009

26 May 2009

Abortions 2008

  • In 2008 there were 13,817 abortions performed compared to 13,738 in 2007.  This is consistent with the pattern seen in recent years.  In 2008, the rate for women aged 15-44 was 13.1 for every 1000 women compared to 11.1 for every 1000 women in 2000.
  • The rate of terminations is highest in NHS Tayside at 15.7 per 1000 women aged 15-44.  In NHS Lothian the rate is 14.4 and in NHS Grampian the rate is 14.3.   The Island Boards (Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles) have the lowest rate at 5.7.
  • As in previous years, the rate of terminations in 2008 was highest in women aged 16-19 (24.5 per 1000) and those aged 20-24 (24.9 per 1000). Lower rates are seen in women aged 25-29 (17.1 per 1000) and in women aged over 40 (2.2 per 1000).

26 May 2009

Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 31 March 2009 (monthly and quarterly data)

  • At 31 March 2009, 100% of new outpatients and over 99.9% of inpatients and day cases were waiting less than the 18-week national standard. This is the statistic used by NHS Boards from 31 December 2007 to 31 March 2009 to measure performance against Scottish Government waiting times standards.
  • At 31 March 2009, over 99.9% of new outpatients and approximately 99.9% of inpatients and day cases were waiting less than 15 weeks. 15 weeks is the new national standard that comes into place from 31 March 2009 and will be the statistic used by NHS Boards to measure performance against Scottish Government waiting times standards from this date.
  • 99.9% of new outpatients seen and 99.9% of inpatients and day cases treated in quarter ending 31 December 2008 had waited less than 18 weeks.
  • 98.4% of new outpatients seen and 98.2% of inpatients and day cases treated in quarter ending 31 December 2008 had waited less than 15 weeks.
  • 2.8% of new outpatients and 18.9% of inpatients and day cases on waiting lists at 31 March 2009 were unavailable for treatment at that date.
  • 97.2% of patients attending Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments during the quarter ending 31 March 2009 were admitted, discharged or transferred within 4 hours. 

26 May 2009

NHS Smoking Cessation Service Statistics (Scotland) 1st January to 31st December 2008

Information on clients attempting to quit smoking with the help of NHS smoking cessation services, and quit outcomes, during the 2008 calendar year.  Also, comparisons with data for the previous year.

  • There were 50,121 quit attempts made during the 2008 calendar year.  This compares with 44,019 in 2007 (revised 2007 figures), an increase of 6,102 or 14%.
  • An estimated 4.8% of smokers in Scotland made a quit attempt with an NHS smoking cessation service during 2008 (4.2% in 2007).  Pharmacy services accounted for 44% of quit attempts made.
  • One month after the quit date, 38% had quit (self-reported ?not smoked in the last two weeks?), 33% were still smoking and 29% were ?lost to follow-up?/unknown.  
  • Based on data for the 2007 calendar year, quit rates at one, three and 12 months were 38%, 19% and 8% respectively. 

26 May 2009

Delayed Discharges in NHS Scotland - April 2009

  • There were zero patients delayed for over 6 weeks in the April 2009 census. This compares with 79 at the January 2009 census and zero at the April 2008 census.
  • At the April 2009 census, there were a total of 468 delayed discharges in Scotland, compared with 492 at the January 2009 census, and 434 at the April 2008 census. All the patients in the April 2008 and April 2009 census had been delayed for less than 6 weeks.

26 May 2009

General Dental Service registrations - updates of existing pages to 31 December 2008

  • The percentage of the Scottish population registered with an NHS GDS dentist is 78.7% for children and 59.3% for adults at 31st December 2008. This is an increase from 77.4% for children and 57.2% for adults at 30th September 2008.
  • There has been a 10% and 18% increase in the number of registrations for children and adults respectively from December 2007 to December 2008

26 May 2009

Acute Hospital Activity to 31 March 2009

Quarterly and annual summary of activity in the acute sector of NHSScotland.  This release will include inpatient, day case and outpatient activity, multiple emergency admissions, beds data and Nurse and AHP activity.

  • The total number of hospital discharges (episodes) has increased by 2.0% to 1,343,000 in the year ending March 2008 from 1,316,000 in 2007.
  • Neoplasms (including cancer) were the most common main diagnosis for patients discharged from hospital in the year ending March 2008, accounting for 14.1% of all primary diagnoses.
  • 1,219,000 inpatient and day case procedures were carried out in NHS Scotland in 2008, an increase of 2.4% from 1,190,000 in 2007.
  • 4,497,000 outpatients were seen at consultant clinics in the year ending March 2008, showing a slight increase of 0.2% when compared to year ending March 2007.  In 2007/08, 1,386,000 were new outpatient attendances, an increase of 1.5% from 1,365,000 in 2006/07.

26 May 2009

Perinatal Mortality in Scotland

  • Stillbirth rates have changed little over the past two decades, having declined markedly in the previous decade. 
  • Women aged between 25-34 years have the lowest stillbirth rate. 
  • There is a steady rise in the number of women over the age of 35 having their first child.
  • There is a suggestion that term stillbirths and intrapartum stillbirths (fetal deaths during labour) have risen slightly in the past decade.
  • The rate of twins has almost doubled in the past thirty years.  There has also been an increase in the rate of preterm deliveries and caesarean section for these births.

26 May 2009

Scottish Anthroplasty Project - Annual Report

26 May 2009

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in NHSScotland: Characteristics of the Workforce Supply in 2008

26 May 2009

Scottish Hip Fracture Audit Rehabilitation Report 2009

19 May 2009

Cancer Waiting Times October-December 2008

Cancer waiting-time statistics for urgently-referred patients by tumour site and NHS board. This statistical release is published by the Scottish Government.

11 May 2009

Breastfeeding Statistics  

Annual update of breastfeeding rates in Scotland  . This release includes figures for babies born in 2008 for NHS Boards that use the Child   Health Systems Programme Pre-School system (CHSP-PS).

Among the 12 participating NHS Boards in Scotland:

  • In 2008, 45.0% of mothers were breastfeeding at the First Visit review, which takes place at around 10 days, up slightly from the 2007 level (44.5%).  This includes 37.0% of mothers who were exclusively breastfeeding (a slight decrease from the 2007 figure of 37.5%).
  • At the 6-8 week review, the overall breastfeeding rate was 36.1% in 2008 (35.6% in 2007).  This includes 26.7% of mothers who were exclusively breastfeeding (an increase from 26.0% in 2007).
  • The overall breastfeeding rate and exclusive breastfeeding rate have remained relatively stable since 2001.
  • Breastfeeding rates vary by geographical area.  For example, at the 6-8 week review, exclusive breastfeeding rates in 2008 range from 18.5% in NHS Ayrshire & Arran to 48.3% in NHS Shetland.
  • Younger mothers who live in the most deprived areas are the least likely to breastfeed their babies

April 2009

28 April 2009

Cancer Incidence (2006)

The updated figures show cancer incidence (1985-2006) for each major cancer.

  • In recent years, the overall age-standardised incidence rates have fallen slightly for males and females.
  • However, the rates do show considerable variation between cancers, with substantial increases in melanoma of the skin (both sexes), and decreases in stomach (both sexes) and lung cancers (males only).
  • Actual numbers of cases of cancer have risen over the last decade, largely due to an ageing population

28 April 2009

Place of Death from Cancer    

The first report to examine the place of death among patients dying from cancer in Scotland. Information is presented on place of death from all malignancies combined, as well as from the four major cancers (breast, colorectal, prostate and lung), broken down by demographic characteristics of the patients.

  • Around one-half of the approximately 75,000 deaths from cancer in Scotland in the years 2003-2007 occurred  in NHS Acute Hospitals;
  • around one quarter of deaths were at Home,
  • approximately 17% of cancer deaths in Hospices, and the remainder were in Other Institutions.

This overall pattern has been roughly constant over the past 10 years, with some variation within demographic characteristics by specific cancer types.

28 April 2009

NHSScotland NHS Board 2009/10 revenue budget target shares calculated using the new Resource Allocation formula (NRAC)  

The Scottish Resource Allocation formula is used to inform the allocation of around 70% of the total NHS Budget between the 14 territorial NHS Boards in Scotland.

  • Target shares are shown at NHS Board level.
  • Adjustments for the age/sex, additional needs and unavoidable excess costs are shown at NHS Board level and small geographical areas within Boards.

March 2009

31 March 2009

Practice Team Information 2007/08

This publication provides information on estimated numbers of patients and patient contacts with GPs or practice-employed nurses in Scotland.

The main updates to the content are:

  • The addition of more recent data (now including the financial year 2007/08)
  • The statistical model used to calculate PTI estimates has been updated allowing all estimates to be shown with 95% confidence intervals (indicating the precision of the estimates)

The main findings include:

  • The estimated number of face to face contacts between patients and GPs in 2007/08 was 15.3 million; this is fairly consistent with estimates for previous years.
  • In contrast, estimated numbers of contacts with practice-employed nurses and their assistants, which had been rising in recent years, dropped from 7.4 million to 6.5 million. A number of possible explanations for this are discussed in the publication.

31 March 2009

Prescribing Statistics

An annual update to information on the prescribing of drugs indicated for the treatment of obesity, drugs used in rheumatic disease and gout, and drugs used in smoking cessation in the community. Also includes information on the Minor Ailment Service registrations.

Main findings include:

  • Drugs indicated for the treatment of obesity - 110,000 items were prescribed in Scotland during 2007-08, an increase of 6,000 (6%) from the previous year.
  • Drugs indicated for the treatment of rheumatic diseases and gout - 2.45 million items were prescribed in Scotland during 2007-08, a decrease of 17,000 (1%) from the previous year.
  • Drugs used in smoking cessation - 300,000 smoking cessation interventions items were prescribed in Scotland during 2008, an increase of 56,000 (23%) on the previous year.
  • At September 2008, 11.5% of people registered with a GP in Scotland are also registered for MAS.

31 March 2009

ScotPHO Website Updates

The ScotPHO website contains comprehensive information on a wide range of topics including behaviour, health, well being and disease and clinical risk factors. New sections for this release are Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which includes previously unpublished data and Injuries which includes previously published data. A number of sections are updated, including new data on Epilepsy.

The statistics include:

  • The ageing of Scotland's population does not fully account for the trends in COPD, which may be explained by the fact that COPD rates fall many years after declines in smoking rates. Thus the current burden of COPD in Scotland may, in part, be due to the high smoking rates seen 30?40 years ago.
  • Epilepsy is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Scotland and around 0.7% of the Scottish population (around 38,000 people) have epilepsy.

31 March 2009

National Drug Treatment Waiting Times

Quarterly update on the number of clients waiting for drug treatment and the time waited for (1) clients to be offered an assessment date and (2) clients to be offered an appointment date for any drug treatment intervention.

The publication shows that in October - December 2008:

  • Approximately 70% of those offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date within 14 days of referral
  • Approximately 90% of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 14 days of date care plan agreed
     

Also published 31 March 2009:

Alcohol consumption in black and minority ethnic groups and recent immigrants in Scotland: current situation on available information

Dispensing contractors? remuneration ? quarterly update

Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland - Supplementary Information by Community Health Partnership from January 2009 census

26 March 2009

HPV vaccination ? provisional uptake rates

The first publication of Scottish uptake rates for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine.

  • Provisional figures at mid-February 2009 show that overall uptake of the HPV vaccine amongst girls in second, fifth and sixth year of secondary school in Scotland is already 92.2% for the first dose and 87.8% for the second dose.

26 March 2009

Childhood immunisation - uptake rates (for quarter and year ending 31 December 2008)

Quarterly update of immunisation uptake rates for children aged 12 and 24 months and 5 and 6 years.

  • For all primary courses of immunisation except MMR, quarterly uptake rates by 24 months of age remain high and stable (around 96% to 98%).
  • For MMR: quarterly uptake of one dose by 24 months increased slightly to 92.6%; and quarterly uptake by 5 years of age rose to 95.6%, exceeding the 95% target.

February 2009

24 February 2009

Alcohol Statistics Scotland 2009

This biennial publication presents the latest available information from a range of national data sources relating to alcohol. These include routine data sources and surveys.

There are four main sections:

  • The Alcohol Market
  • Alcohol Consumption
  • Alcohol and Health Harm
  • Alcohol and Social Harm

Key points include:

  • In 2007/08 in Scotland, there were 42,430 alcohol related discharges from general hospitals, equating to a discharge rate of 777 per 100,000 population. This is an increase of nearly 7% from the previous year (729 per 100,000 population in 2006/07).
  • There was an increase of nearly 17% in alcohol related age standardised discharge rates from Scottish general hospitals over the last five years (666 per 100,000 population in 2003/04 compared to 777 per 100,000 population in 2007/08).

24 February 2009

Waiting times and waiting lists to 31st December 2008 (monthly and quarterly data)

This is the latest information (updated to December 2008) about patients on hospital waiting lists and waiting times of those who have been seen or treated in Scotland. The New Ways statistics are classed as ?provisional?.

Provisional statistics show:

  • At 31 December 2008, over 99.9% of new outpatients and over 99.9% of inpatients and day cases were waiting less than the 18-week national standard. This is the statistic used by NHS Boards to measure performance against Scottish Government waiting times standards.
  • 99.8% of new outpatients seen and 99.7% of inpatients and day cases treated in quarter ending 31 December 2008 had waited less than 18 weeks

Also:

  • 97.5% of patients attending A&E departments during the quarter ending 31 December 2008 were admitted, discharged or transferred within 4 hours against the national standard of 98% within 4 hours.

24 February 2009

Acute Hospital Activity (annual data to 31 March 2008 and quarterly data to 31 December 2008)

This release contains information on acute hospital activity within NHS Scotland, illustrating current data and historic trends in secondary care provision and patient contact with the service. The release also includes revised data on multiple emergency admissions, beds and nurse and Allied Health Professional (AHP) outpatient activity.

  • The total number of hospital discharges (episodes) has increased by 1.7% to 1,339,000 in the year ending March 2008 from 1,316,000 in 2007.
  • A total of 1,217,000 procedures were carried out on inpatients and day cases in NHS Scotland in the year ending March 2008, an increase of 2.3% from 1,190,000 in 2007.
  • For patients aged 65 years and over who have had 2 or more emergency admission spells in hospital, the rate per 100,000 population has increased slightly from 4,800 in the year ending March 2007 to 5,000 in 2008, a smaller increase than the previous year (4,500 in 2006).

24 February 2009

Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland (formerly Patients Ready for Discharge) figures from the January 2009 Census.

This report provides the latest statistics on NHS hospital inpatients "ready for discharge" but whose discharge has been delayed, from a census of these patients as at January 2009 . A delayed discharge occurs when an individual, clinically ready for discharge, cannot leave the hospital due to various reasons.

As at the January 2009 census there were 79 patients delayed outwith the six week discharge planning period compared with 2,162 in the October 2001 census which is the point when the figures were at their highest. And compares with 91 delayed patients at the previous October 2008 census.

24 February 2009

Findings from the Balance of Care / Continuing Care Census

Information was collected to identify patients who were receiving NHS Care that is on-going, non-acute care, delivered as an inpatient, and often over an extended period, either in hospital, hospice or care home.

Details of age group and gender plus Location of Care, Specialty and Length of Stay are presented, from a census at 30.09.08.

  • The 2,715 patients reported as receiving NHS Continuing Health Care corresponds to a rate of 36 patients per 100,000 Scottish population.
  • For the 2,715 NHS Continuing Health Care patients, 2,161 (80%) were resident in hospital.

Also published 24 February 2009

Improving ethnic data collection for equality and diversity monitoring

Care Home Staffing Project Report (Stakeholder?s Report and Technical Report)

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in NHSScotland: Characteristics of the Workforce Supply in 2007

17 February 2009

Cancer Waiting Times

Cancer waiting-time statistics for urgently-referred patients by tumour site and NHS board. This statistical release is published by the Scottish Government (www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/cancer/waiting-times ).

 

January 2009

27 January 2009

Web Based Clinical Outcome Indicators

Trends in hospital outcome indicators for: heart attack; stroke; hip fracture; selected planned operations; surgical readmissions; and medical readmissions.

Figures for Scotland for 2007 include:

  • 85.6% of patients survived for 30 days after emergency admission following a heart attack, up from 81.1% in 1998
  • 80.7% of patients survived for 30 days after emergency admission following a stroke, up from 76.6% in 1998

27 January 2009

General Practice - GP workforce and practice population statistics to 2008

Figures on general medical practitioners (GPs), including age, gender and contract type; and on general practice populations.

  • The number (headcount) of contracted GPs in Scottish practices at 30 September 2008 was 4,921, an increase of 10.4% since 2004
  • An increasing proportion of contracted GPs are female; for 2008 the figure was 48%, compared with 45% in 2004.

27 January 2009

Dental Statistics

Figures on: registrations with the NHS General Dental Service (GDS), up to September 2008; and on Hospital Dental Service activity (outpatients, inpatients and day cases), up to 31 March 2008.

  • 77.4% of children, and 57.2% of adults, were registered with an NHS GDS dentist at 30 September 2008.

27 January 2009

New Ways of Waiting Data Quality Assessment Project - Executive Summary

"New Ways of Defining and Measuring Waiting Times" introduced a significant change in the definition, recording and reporting of waiting times across NHS Scotland.

This report summarises the work of the New Ways of Waiting Data Quality Assessment Project and sets out a number of recommendations to support the further improvement in the quality of data.

December 2008

16 December 2008

NHSScotland Workforce Statistics 2008

The release includes information on staff in post across all NHS staff groups as well as vacancy information for Nursing & Midwifery and Allied Health Professions as at 30th September 2008. Information on Community & Hospital Medical and Dental staff and staff employed in the General Medical Service (GPs) and General Dental Service (GDS) as at 30th September is also included.

The number of staff employed in NHSScotland as at 30th September 2008 was 165,551 (headcount). Nursing & midwifery staff account for 40.9% of all staff (headcount) employed in NHSScotland.

16 December 2008

Healthy life expectancy

Life expectancy (LE) is an estimate of how many years a person might be expected to live. Healthy life expectancy (HLE) is an estimate of how many years they might live in "good" health. This publication shows that:

  • Both LE and HLE are lower (worse) in Scotland than in the UK as a whole.
  • Both LE and HLE at birth in Scotland have improved over recent years, but the gap between them (the years expected to be spent in "not good" health) has also increased.
  • There are considerable variations in LE and HLE in Scotland between males and females and among different geographical and socio-economic groups.

16 December 2008

Childhood obesity : Primary 1 statistics for school year 2007/08

Update of annual statistics on high and low body mass index (BMI) for Primary 1 school children in ten participating NHS Boards in Scotland. The release includes data to school year 2007/08.

  • In 2007/08, among the ten participating NHS Boards, 20.0% of Primary 1 children were classified as overweight, including 7.9% obese and 3.9% severely obese.

16 December 2008

Childhood immunisation uptake rates for quarter ending 30 September 2008

Quarterly update of immunisation uptake rates for children aged 12 and 24 months and 5 and 6 years. Includes data to 30 September 2008.

  • Uptake of one dose of MMR by 5 years of age has increased and now exceeds the 95% target for the first time.

16 December 2008

Child Health Statistics : Support Needs System Annual Summary Statistics 2008

The Support Needs System (SNS) is an electronic system holding data relating to children and young people (up to 19 years of age) with additional support needs.

Its purpose is to monitor their progress and ensure they have access to the services or support they require. These SNS summary statistics provide information for participating Boards, and represent a ?snap-shot? of information held on the system as at September 2008.

16 December 2008

Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2008

This annual publication presents the latest available information from a range of national data sources relevant to drug misuse. This year there are three main sections: Services and treatment for drug misuse, Health impact of drug misuse and Drugs and criminal justice.

Key points include:

  • In 2007/08, 12,562 ?new? individuals were reported to the Scottish Drugs Misuse database (SDMD). This corresponds to a rate of 259 per 100,000 of the Scottish population.
  • Of those reporting illicit drug use to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database, 69% reported using heroin (7,047 individuals).

16 December 2008

Drug Treatment Waiting Times Information Framework Report July-September 2008

Data is presented for July-September 2008 on the number of clients waiting for drug treatment and the time waited for (1) clients to be offered an assessment date and (2) clients to be offered an appointment date for any drug treatment intervention.

The publication shows that in July-September 2008

  • Approximately 70% of those offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date within 14 days of referral (Table 1).
  • Approximately 90% of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 14 days of date care plan agreed. (Table 2).

16 December 2008

Medicines used in Mental Health

Update to annual prescribing statistics showing the number and cost of prescriptions for medicines used in the treatment of mental illness in Scotland. Hospital dispensed medicines are not included. Some key points include:

  • The prescribing of hypnotics, anxiolytics and barbiturates declined slightly by 0.3% between 2006/07 and 2007/08.
  • The volume of medicines indicated for depression rose by 4.7% between 2006/07 and 2007/08. It is estimated that 9.3% of the Scottish population aged 15 and over make daily use of an antidepressant drug.
  • The volume of medicines indicated for psychoses and related disorders rose by 3.4% between 2006/07 and 2007/08.

16 December 2008

Quarterly update of reimbursement and remuneration paid to dispensing contractors, up to September 2008

Released today is a quarterly update of reimbursement and remuneration paid to dispensing contractors, e.g. pharmacists, for financial year 2008/09 and calendar year 2008, up to September 2008. The information is aimed at those with an understanding of payments made to dispensing contractors.

16 December 2008

Unintentional Injuries in year ending 31 March 2008

Unintentional injury is one of the main causes of death and is one of the common causes of emergency hospital admissions in children.

Unintentional injuries are also a common cause for emergency hospital admissions among adults. In 2007/08, unintentional injuries accounted for approximately 1 in 6 emergency hospital admissions for children and 1 in 9 for adults. The number of emergency admissions to hospital as a result of unintentional injury has decreased by over 6% over the period 1999/00 to 2007/08.

16 December 2008

Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland - Supplementary Information by Community Health Partnership from October 2008 census

Figures from the October 2008 Delayed Discharges quarterly census are now available by Community Health Partnership. Headline figures and information at NHS Board and Local Authority level were previously published on 25 November 2008.

16 December 2008

Health and Wellbeing Profiles for Community Health Partnership (CHP) Areas, 2008 - data files

Following publication in June 2008 of individual area profiles for CHPs and a 'Scotland Overview', this release provides access to Excel data files for a range of geographies (Scotland, NHS boards, CHPs, intermediate geography zones and locally defined areas) for the same set of health profile indicators.

This December 2008 release is a supplement to the June 2008 publications. It contains data published in June 2008, plus access for the first time to all of the indicator data at sub-CHP level.

Key findings from the June 2008 profiles publications (CHP-level findings) included the following:

  • Male life expectancy ranged from 67.9 years to 77.3 years, whilst female life expectancy ranged from 75.1 years to 81.2 years.
  • The number of people admitted to hospital annually with alcohol related and attributable problems ranged from 521 to 1,505 per 100,000 people.
  • The number of people admitted to hospital annually with heart disease ranged from 501 to 1,010 per 100,000 people.

16 December 2008

Workforce Planning for Psychology Services in NHS Scotland: Characteristics of the Workforce Supply in 2008

This release is a collaborative piece of work between ISD and NHS Education for Scotland, and presents NHSScotland psychology services workforce information as at 30th September 2008.

In total there were 581.9 wte Clinical&Other Applied Psychologists employed in NHSScotland at 30th September 2008. This is an increase of 11% Clinical&Other Applied Psychologists compared to 30th September 2007.

Previous years have also seen an increase in staffing, (2006-2007: 10%; 2005-2006: 8%). The increases reflect the expansion of training capacity for the 3-year doctoral Clinical Psychology course and the strong retention rates of course completers in NHSScotland psychology workforce.

16 December 2008

Preparing for a new Resource Allocation formula in Scotland

This publication shows the results of the preparatory work for implementation of the new formula recommended by the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC). This allows NHS Boards to assess the target shares of the unified budgets, prior to the implementation of the new formula in line for the 2009/10 allocations.

10 December 2008

Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality Annual Report on 2007 data

The SASM Annual Report is published today and is based on the views and recommendations from the SASM Board and Management Committee.

SASM calls for investigation into falling post mortem numbers

SASM is also announcing plans to strengthen its role in helping to improve the safety of surgery and the care of surgeons by introducing analysis of local reporting of surgical deaths, and a sub-audit of findings from the latest national report in order to carry out more detailed investigation of the findings.

November 2008

25 November 2008
Acute Activity to 31 March 2008 (quarterly and annual data)

This release contains information on acute hospital activity within NHS Scotland illustrating current data and historic trends in secondary care provisions and patient contact with the service. This release includes new data for the year ending 31 March 2008 on inpatient, day case and outpatient activity and multiple emergency admissions. It also includes updated data for beds and nurse and Allied Health Professional (AHP) outpatient activity.

  • The total number of hospital discharges (episodes) has increased by 1.3% to 1,332,000 in the year ending March 2008 from 1,315,000 in 2007.
  • A total of 1,214,000 procedures were carried out on inpatients and day cases in NHS Scotland in the year ending March 2008, an increase of 2.1% from 1,190,000 in 2007.
  • For patients aged 65 years and over who have had 2 or more emergency admission spells in hospital, the rate per 100,000 population has increased slightly from 4,800 in the year ending March 2007 to 4,900 in 2008, a smaller increase than the previous year (4,500 in 2006).

-------------------------

25 November 2008
Scottish Health Service Costs, year ended 31st March 2008

Costs Book 2008 is released today and provides a detailed analysis of the cost of services in NHSScotland.

The net operating cost of the 14 Health Boards, along with 8 Special Health Boards, the Mental Welfare Commission and the Mental Health Tribunal recorded in their annual accounts amounted to £9.5 billion. The Costs Book detailed reports are structured to analyse around 92% of this total, presenting information on the boards that provide hospital and community care directly to patients. This reflects health care expenditure within the 14 health board areas and at two of the special boards, namely the State Hospital and Golden Jubilee National Hospital - amounting to £8.8 billion.

Some examples of the data available:

  • Hospital running costs were over £5 billion
  • £100 million is spent on cleaning Scotland?s hospitals
  • In 2007/08, over 74,500 outpatients were treated at the Accident & Emergency department at Glasgow Royal Infirmary at an average cost of £80 per attendance.

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25 November 2008
Coronary Heart Disease statistics update

This publication for Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) contains updated information on mortality, prescribing, incidence, survival, emergency admissions and primary care consultations to 2007 and hospital activity, operations and waiting times data to year ending 31 March 2008 by NHS Board, council area and community health partnership (CHP).

Some of the key findings include:

  • The number of emergency admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI or heart attack) fell by 6.4% from 7776 in 2006/07 to 7275 in 2007/08
  • The age-standardised mortality rate (for under 75s) for CHD continues to fall, from 124.6 per 100,000 population in 1995 to 61.3 per 100,000 in 2007. If this trend from 1995 continues the target to reduce the mortality rate by 60% between 1995 and 2010 looks achievable.
  • In the 15% most deprived areas in Scotland, the under 75 mortality rate from CHD (standardised by age) increased slightly from 110.2 in 2006, to 112.4 per 100,000 in 2007. This rate had fallen year on year from 2000 to 2006.

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25 November 2008
Stroke statistics update

This publication for Stroke properly known as Cerebrovascular Disease (CVD) contains updated information on mortality, prescribing, incidence, survival and primary care consultations to 2007 and hospital activity and operations data to year ending 31 March 2008 by NHS Board, council area and community health partnership (CHP).

Some of the key findings include:

  • Standardised mortality rates for CVD (for those under 75) continue to fall, from 37.5 per 100,000 population in 1995 to 18.8 per 100,000 population in 2007. If this trend from 1995 continues the target to reduce the mortality rate by 50% between 1995 and 2010 looks achievable.
  • In the 10-year period between 1998/99 and 2007/08, the rate per 100,000 population of incident cases of CVD (standardised by age and sex) has fallen by 25.7%.
  • Between 2006 and 2007 the number of prescriptions dispensed for cardiovascular related drugs continued to rise although the overall cost fell.

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25 November 2008
Scotland?s Sexual Health Information (SSHI) Report: 2008

This is the fourth annual report produced by the Sexually Transmitted Infections Epidemiology Advisory Group (STIEAG), for Scotland. It continues the changes seen in last year?s report whereby a number of different data sources were used to describe a wider picture of sexual health, rather than sexually transmitted infections (STIs) alone.

The aim of the report remains the same - to promote a better understanding of sexual health in Scotland but this year is a more succinct ?digest? document. The ?digest? provides readers with the headline data and most important developments since the previous year?s report.

Headline data include;

  • There were almost twice as many diagnoses of chlamydia in women as in men.
  • The number of diagnoses of gonorrhoea decreased in 2007 for the first time in five years; this was due to the 27% decrease in infection diagnosed in men who have sex with men.
  • Since 2002, the number of new diagnoses of genital herpes in GUM clinics has risen steadily; a 43% increase has been observed.

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25 November 2008
Scottish Perinatal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity Report 2007

This annual report summarises the findings of the 2007 Scottish Stillbirth and Infant Death Survey. The report also includes data on the prevalence of selected congenital anomalies.

  • Total births in Scotland have risen steadily over the past 5 consecutive years, reversing the steady downward trend evident over the previous 5 years: from 51,548 in 2002 to 58,108 in 2007.
  • There has been a substantial fall in stillbirth, neonatal and post-neonatal death rates over the past 30 years, but there has been little change in the stillbirth rate in the last decade.
  • Low birthweight and preterm births account for around 6% of all births, but for over 60% of perinatal deaths. The neonatal mortality among babies under 1500g birthweight and/or under 28 weeks gestation is 500-600 times greater than those over 3499g and/or over 37 weeks gestation.

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25 November 2008
Community Nurses Measure Up

An estimated 74% of community nurses working on the 24th April 2008 took part in a Community Nursing Census and provided information which has never been available before at national level. The data demonstrates the complexity and wide range of nursing activities carried out and reflects the whole age spectrum of those who received care in Scotland on that day. The information from the census will provide part of the national information requirements about what community nursing teams do, as well as supporting health boards in planning and delivering the services of the future.

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25 November 2008
Improving ethnic data collection for equality and diversity monitoring

Routine recording of ethnicity is required in order to demonstrate that the NHS in Scotland is meeting legal obligations through the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 which requires statutory bodies, including the NHS, to ?..eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different racial groups.?

  • For Scotland as a whole, the recording of ethnicity is very low: a valid ethnic group code was recorded in only 15% of inpatient and daycase records in the quarter to June 08.
  • A valid ethnic group code was recorded in only 10% of new outpatient appointment records in the quarter to June 08.
  • Over the last two years there has been a small improvement in recording in Scotland as a whole. However most NHS Boards have shown no little or no improvement in recording.

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25 November 2008
Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland (formerly Patients Ready for Discharge) figures from the October 2008 Census

This report provides the latest statistics on NHS hospital inpatients "ready for discharge" but whose discharge has been delayed, from a census of these patients as at October 2008 . A delayed discharge occurs when an individual, clinically ready for discharge, cannot leave the hospital due to various reasons.

As at the October 2008 census there were 92 patients delayed outwith the six week discharge planning period compared with 2,162 in the October 2001 census which is the point when the figures were at their highest.

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October 2008

28 October 2008
Scottish Cervical Screening Programme Statistics 2007/2008

Annual update of cervical screening statistics to 31st March 2008, including uptake, reporting times, number of smears processed and results.

In the period 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2008:

  • Over 373,300 cervical smears were processed within the programme, of which 97.2% were satisfactory. Of these smears, approximately 92% had a negative result and just over 3% had some degree of pre-cancerous change.
  • The percentage of unsatisfactory smears has fallen from 7.4% five years ago to 2.8%. The main reason for this is the introduction of Liquid Based Cytology (LBC) as a method of taking samples.
  • Uptake rates continued to fall in almost all age groups, with the lowest uptake in the youngest age bands. The Scottish Cervical Screening Programme is working collaboratively with NHS Boards to develop a strategy to improve the uptake of cervical screening.

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28 October 2008
Dental Statistics

This release includes NHS General Dental Service (GDS) quarterly registration figures at quarter ending 30 June 2008. Information on NHS GDS courses of treatment is published to year ending 31 March 2008.

  • The percentage of the Scottish population registered with an NHS GDS dentist is 75.6% and 55.4% for children and adults respectively as at 30 June 2008. This is an increase from 73.8% for children and 53.1% for adults registered as at 31 March 2008.
  • There has been a 12% and 19% increase in the number of registrations for children and adults, respectively, from June 2007 to June 2008.
  • Of the Scottish population registered with an NHS GDS dentist, the 18-24 age group observed the largest percentage point increase between June 2007 and June 2009

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28 October 2008
The SPARRA (Scottish Patients at risk of Readmission and Admission) Mental Disorder (MD) risk-prediction tool to encompass patients at risk of readmission and admission to Psychiatric hospitals in Scotland

  • A new tool has been developed to identify those patients, aged 15 years and over, at greatest risk of psychiatric admission.
  • SPARRA MD uses three years of psychiatric patient admission history to predict risk of future psychiatric admission. Risk scores are predicted for approximately 36,500 people.
  • There are six significant independent variables included within the algorithm (age group, previous psychiatric admissions, total bed days, time since most recent Psychiatric admission, principal diagnosis and rurality).

 





Main contact: Email Richard Buchanan