News and Releases

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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).

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September 2008

30 September 2008
Cancer Mortality 2007

This is the annual update on cancer deaths in Scotland, covering the years 1985-2007. Detailed information on approximately 40 cancers is given, including information by health board, sex and age groups.

In 2007, approximately 15,000 people died from cancer.

• Taking all cancers combined, age-standardised cancer mortality rates have decreased by about 7% over the last 10 years, with a greater decrease in males than in females (11% and 5% decreases, respectively).
• The cancers that account for the greatest number of deaths in Scotland are lung, colorectal, breast and prostate
• The mortality rates for these four major cancers are decreasing except for lung cancer in females, which continues to increase.

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30 September 2008
Key Clinical Indicators for Sexual Health
Population Based KCIs: Data for 2007

This document reports on the chlamydia, sterilisation, termination of pregnancy, hepatitis B vaccination in men who have sex with men (MSM) and long acting reversible methods of contraception (LARC) indicators.

Data are reported from calendar year 2007, with the exception of LARC which reports by financial year 2007/2008.

The publication reports that:

• Chlamydia testing in sexually active people aged less than 25 should continue to be actively encouraged.
• Rates of sterilisation in men and women have decreased since 2006.
• The proportion of terminations performed at under 10 weeks gestation has increased from 67.3% in 2006 to 69.1% in 2007.
• A higher percentage of hepatitis B vaccinations are being offered to MSM in GUM clinics (56.9% of those eligible) than are being received (45.8% of those eligible) due to those who decide they do not want the vaccination.
• The uptake of LARC continues to increase

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30 September 2008
Births in Scottish Hospitals, years ending 31 March 2006 & 31 March 2007

This annual update includes statistical information on births in Scottish hospitals. This release includes data for the two financial year periods ending 31st March 2006 and 2007. The release includes data by NHS Board of residence, Local Council Area, Community Health Partnership and by individual hospital.

The latest figures show:

• That the number of births in Scotland is increasing with 53,024 births in year ending March 2006 and 55,363 births for year ending March 2007.
• The most common age for starting a family in areas of low deprivation is 32, which is 13 years later than the most common age in areas of high deprivation.
• 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 2007 to 15.0%. The rate of elective or planned caesarean sections also rose from 4.7% in 1976 to 9.1% in 2006 and 9.7% in 2007. Together this resulted in an overall increase in caesarean section rates from 8.6% in 1976 to 24.5% in 2006 and 24.7% in 2007.

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30 September 2008
Drug Treatment Waiting Times Information Framework Report April-June 2008

Data is presented for April-June 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 April-June 2008

• Approximately 65% of those offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date within 14 days of referral (Table 1).
• Approximately 85% of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 14 days of date care plan agreed. (Table 2)
• Tables and charts are presented by Alcohol and Drug Action Team area

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30 September 2008
Childhood immunisation uptake rates for quarter ending 30 June 2008

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

In Scotland as a whole, quarterly uptake rates show:

• that the 95% target for immunisation of 2 year olds is being met and exceeded for all primary immunisations apart from the first dose of MMR.
• MMR uptake rates at 2 years have continued to be above 90% since autumn 2005.

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30 September 2008
Older People Services: Measuring Relative Need: Statistical Report 2008

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.

• 52% of the hospital patients surveyed were classed as high dependency in the latest year.
• 15% of residents in the care homes surveyed in nine NHS board areas in Scotland were classed as having high dependency.
• The proportion of hospital patients classified within the highest dependency group has increased from 28% in the year ending March 2003 to 36% in the year ending August 2008.

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30 September 2008
The Scottish Stroke Care Audit 2008 National Report
Stroke Services in Scottish Hospitals Data relating to 2005 ? 2007

There is strong evidence that well organised stroke care improves the outcome of patients having a stroke. In Scotland, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHSQIS) have developed guidelines and standards aimed at delivering that care. The clinically led Scottish Stroke Care Audit aims to improve the quality of care provided by the hospitals in all NHS Boards by collating and reporting upon data collected by the Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs).

Stroke unit care is associated with reduced risk of dying and disability after a stroke. In 2007 56%, compared with 2005: 51 %, of patients were admitted to a stroke unit within one day of admission. The NHSQIS standard is that at least 70% of patients should be admitted to a stroke unit within a day of admission.

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30 September 2008
Scottish Hip Fracture Audit Report 2008

The Scottish Hip Fracture Audit (SHFA) reports on core acute and outcome statistics for hip fracture patients in 21 hospitals that contributed to the audit in 2007. These include time in the emergency department, time to theatre, discharge destinations, length of acute orthopaedic and hospital stay, residence and survival at 30 and 120 days post-admission, and rates of return to home, mobility, independence and pain.

SHFA?s reporting of the Scottish Government?s ?Time to Theatre? target has helped hospitals improve compliance to 97% of eligible patients undergoing surgery within 24 safe operating hours in December 2007, from 86% in 2006.

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30 September 2008
Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) of the new General Medical Services contract.
Achievement, exception reporting and detailed prevalence data 2007/08

The Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) is part of the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract. The QOF measures a general practice's achievement against a set of evidence-based indicators, with payments made to practices on the basis of their achievements. Released today are Scotland?s 2007/08 QOF data at Scotland, NHS Board and Community Health Partnership level as well as for individual general practices.

Across all participating Scottish practices with new GMS contracts, the mean number of points achieved in 2007/08 was 982.2, out of a maximum 1000 points available. This is up from a mean of 971.2 points in 2006/07.

Total payments associated with the QOF for 2007/08 were approximately £131.0 million, up from roughly £128.3 million for 2006/07. QOF funding is part of a total of around £700 million invested annually in Primary Medical Services across Scotland.

Amongst individual health conditions included in the QOF, the biggest improvement in achievement for 2007/08 compared with 2006/07 was observed for the depression indicator group. On average, practices with GMS contracts achieved 94.9% of the 33 points available for depression indicators, compared with 84.8% in 2006/07.

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30 September 2008
Prescribing Statistics

Annual prescribing statistics showing prescribing trends, top ten drugs, generic drugs, nurse prescribing, cost of drugs, dispensing fees and community pharmacy information in Scotland.

For the latest year 2007/08 the statistics show:

• The number of prescription items dispensed year on year continued to increase. In 2007/08 there were 82 million items dispensed.
• There was a 3.1% increase in the number of prescription items dispensed over the last year, however there was an increase of 0.4% in the gross ingredient cost compared to 2006/07.
• The most commonly prescribed drug in Scotland is Aspirin.
• The number of patients registered for the minor ailment service at March 2008 was 586,336, a reduction of 19% from March 2007. Almost all Scottish community pharmacies provided the service in March 2008

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30 September 2008
NHS Complaints

Annual update of the number of NHS Complaints received by Hospital & Community Services and Family Health Services, for: Scotland; NHS Boards; Special Boards; National & Support Organisations and the Scottish Health Council. Latest release data is for 2007/08, for areas such as time taken to deal with complaints, issues raised and outcomes.

• The number of complaints for Hospital and Community Services has continued to fall in recent years, with 7,294 complaints received in 2007/08.
• 67.2% of complaints were dealt within the national target of 20 working days in 2007/08.

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30 September 2008
Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland - Supplementary Information by Community Health Partnership from July 2008 census

Figures from the July 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 26th August 2008.

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30 September 2008
Quarterly update of dispensing contractors? remuneration

Released today is a quarterly update of reimbursement and remuneration paid to dispensing contractors for financial year 2008/09 and calendar year 2008, up to June 2008.

The information is aimed at those with an understanding of payments made to dispensing contractors. They include the number of prescription items dispensed, their costs and the fees paid to the dispensers. The payments include total gross ingredient cost (GIC), net ingredient cost (NIC), cost of individual fees and allowances, and gross total and patient charges. They are intended to be used as reference listings detailing payments made to Scottish dispensing contractors of pharmaceuticals.

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25 September 2008
An Analysis of Dental Workforce in Scotland, September 2008.

The Dental Workforce Project is collaboration between NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland. The Project aims to inform workforce planning in dentistry by using robust data to analyse the trends in the supply of dentists, analyse trends in the utilisation of dental services and forecast the demand for and supply of dentists.

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August 2008

26 August 2008
Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 30 June 2008 (monthly, quarterly and annual data)

This is the latest information (updated to June 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 30 June 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.
• 99.6% of new outpatients seen and 99.4% of inpatients and day cases treated in quarter ending 30 June 2008 had waited less than 18 weeks.

Also:

• 98.3% of patients attending A&E departments during the month ending 30 June 2008 were seen within 4 hours against the national standard (98% within 4 hours).

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26 August 2008
The Scottish Bowel Screening Pilot Key Performance Indicators

This release provides information on the Key Performance Indicators for the Scottish Bowel Screening Pilot which ran in Tayside, Grampian and Fife from April 2000 until May 2007.

The figures show that

• Uptake was higher in women than in men
• Uptake was lowest in deprived areas
• Men were more likely than women to have a positive foecal occult blood test (FOBT) result
• More cancers were detected in men than in women

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26 August 2008
Suicide Statistics 2007

Statistics on suicide in 2007 were released by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) on 7th August 2008.  This current ScotPHO release is a more detailed analysis of suicide in Scotland based on mortality data from GROS and includes numbers and rates of suicide at Scotland, NHS board and local authority level and by deprivation decile at Scotland level. 

Some of the key findings are as follows:

• There were 838 deaths by suicide in Scotland in 2007. This equates to an age-standardised rate of 15.9 per 100,000 population per year.
• Based on three-year rolling averages there was a 13% fall in suicide rates between 2000-02 and 2005-07 (14% for males and 10% for females).
• In 2007 the suicide rate for males was around three times that for females.
• Suicide rates in the most deprived areas of Scotland were double the Scottish average.
• Between 1998-02 and 2003-07, the suicide rate decreased in 10 of the 14 NHS Boards and in 24 of the 32 local authorites.

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26 August 2008
?Mystery Shopper? Study 2008: A study of GUM service access for acute STIs in Scotland

A report responding to the Key Clinical Indicator (KCI) for sexual health, looking at service access in genitourinary clinics (GUM) for individuals with symptoms suggestive of an acute sexually transmitted infection (STI). Service access was determined using a ?mystery shopper? approach.

The results of the survey showed that a slightly lower proportion of clinics were able to offer an appointment within two working days than had been able to in the first study in 2007. It is not possible to say, however, that these differences are statistically significant ? that is, it cannot be said that they demonstrate a real change in service access.

It is important to note that any indication of improvement, or lack thereof, in service access will only be evident in the long term

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26 August 2008
Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland (formerly Patients Ready for Discharge) figures from the July 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 July 2008 . A delayed discharge occurs when a patient, clinically ready for discharge, cannot leave the hospital due to various reasons.

As at the July 2008 census there were 44 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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July 2008

29 July 2008
Scottish Breast Screening Programme Statistics 2006/2007

Annual update of breast screening statistics to 31st March 2007, including uptake, cancer detection rates, biopsy results and other outcomes.

• All of the 11 NHS Breast Screening Programme minimum performance standards are being achieved, including uptake, cancer detection and early recall rates.
• Looking at three year rolling attendance figures, uptake continues to rise from 76.2% at 31st March 2006 to 76.5% at 31st March 2007.
• 1,395 cases of cancer were diagnosed in women of all ages, of which 893 were diagnosed in women aged 50-64.

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July 29 2008
Influenza Update 2007/08

This release gives an update on flu related activity in primary care, adding data for the most recent flu season (winter 2007/08) and updating data for previous years. Information shown covers two main areas: (1) flu-related consultations in general practices and (2) flu vaccinations.

• Patient consultations with GPs for flu-like illness remained at low levels throughout the winter of 2007/08.
• The recorded vaccination uptake rate in patients aged 65 and over (one of the main target groups) was 74.1%.  This is well over the target of 70%, although not as high as the 77.8% recorded for the 2005/06 flu season (when concerns  about avian flu were at a high).
• More than one million flu vaccines are dispensed annually in community settings across Scotland.  The total cost of the vaccines dispensed for 2007/08, plus handling and other fees payable to community pharmacies, is expected to reach approximately £5.8 million.

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29 July 2008
Sexually Transmitted Infections diagnosed in Genito-urinary Medicine Clinics, y/e December 2007

This annual update includes statistical information on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed at Scottish Genito-urinary Medicine (GUM) clinics during 2007.  

The latest figures show:

• There was a 13% increase in the overall workload in GUM clinics in 2007.
• In 2007, the number of acute STIs diagnosed in GUM clinics in Scotland was 22,906.  This is an increase of 7% since 2006 when 21,461 diagnoses were made.

A more detailed report including analysis based on amalgamated GUM and laboratory data, together with more specialised data relating to HIV and other areas of sexual health, is to be published at the end of November.

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29 July 2008
Dental Statistics ? quarter ending March 2008

Quarterly registration figures are published for NHS General Dental Service (GDS) registrations for quarter ending March 2008.  Information on fees paid to dentists for children and adults are updated for year ending 31 March 2008.  Workforce figures as at 31 March 2008 are published for the NHS General Dental Service. 

• The percentage of the Scottish population registered with a dentist is 73.8% and 53.1% for children and adults respectively as at 31 March 2008.  This is an increase from 71.7% for children and 50.7% for adults registered as at 31 December 2007.
• There is one NHS GDS dentist to approximately 1,987 people in the population of Scotland.
• The number (headcount) of dentists working in the NHS GDS has increased by 4.1% from 2,474 as at 31 March 2007 to 2,576 as at March 2008.

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29 July 2008
Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group
Audit of Critical Care in Scotland 2008 ? Reporting on 2007

The SICSAG 2008 audit report publishes information including activities, interventions and case-mix adjusted outcomes from general adult Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Scotland in 2007.  A subset of these data is also included in relation to High Dependency Units (HDU).

Admissions to ICU have increased by 32% over the last 10 years. Over half of admissions to Critical Care occur out of hours (8pm-8am and weekends) and there has been a significant increase in both the number and proportion of patients admitted to ICU from the Emergency Department. Despite these pressures, there has been a steady improvement in case-mix adjusted mortality rates in Scottish ICUs over the last four years.

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29 July 2008
Web based Clinical Outcome Indicators

This is the biannual update of trends for six established hospital acute care patient outcome indicators. These cover: acute myocardial infarction; hip fracture; selected planned operations; stroke; surgical readmissions and medical readmissions. Figures are available at NHS Board and hospital level for years ending 30th June 1998 - 2007.

Two of these indicators have had to be withdrawn due to data errors. Please refer to note on indicators website http://www.indicators.scot.nhs.uk/Index.htm

• The percentage of patients surviving 30 days after emergency admission for Acute Myocardial Infarction ( heart attack ) for Scotland gradually increased from 80.4 in year ending 30th June 1998 to 85.2 in year ending 30th June 2007
• The percentage of patients surviving 30 days after emergency admission for Stroke for Scotland increased gradually from 76.5 in year ending 30th June 1998 to 80.8 in year ending 30th June 2007
• Figures are also available for hip fracture and other selected planned operations

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29 July 2008
General Ophthalmic Services

This release provides data on:

• NHS eye examinations for financial year ending 31 March 2008
• NHS voucher claims for financial year ending 31 March 2008.

Updated information is provided on referrals and on reasons for primary and supplementary NHS eye examinations respectively.

• The number of eye examinations has increased by 3.4% from 1,573,103 for 31 March 2007 to 1,626,785 for 31 March 2008.
• 450,716 vouchers (pairs of spectacles for which vouchers were redeemed, including complex appliance payments) were reimbursed by NHS Boards. This was a 1.7% increase on the previous year.

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June 2008

24 June 2008
Cancer Incidence 2005 Update

The publication is the annual update of cancer registration information, showing cancer incidence from 1980-2005 as well as the biennial update of cancer prevalence and cumulative risk.  Registrations for the year 2005 have been added and registrations for previous years updated.  Detailed incidence information is given for approximately 50 types of cancer.

• Taking all cancers combined, in recent years the age-standardised incidence rate has fallen slightly for both men and women. 
• The figures show considerable variation between cancers, with substantial increases in melanoma of the skin and other skin cancers (both sexes), and decreases in stomach (both sexes) and lung (male only) cancers. 
• Actual numbers of cases of cancer have risen over the last decade, largely due to an ageing population.

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24 June 2008
National Drug Treatment Waiting Times
 
Data is presented for January-March 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 January-March 2008.

• 67% (2,960 clients) of those offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date within 14 days of referral (Table 1)
• 88% (2,838 clients) of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 14 days of date care plan agreed. (Table 2)

Table and charts are presented by Alcohol and Drug Action team area.

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24 June 2008
Teenage Pregnancies, 2006

This annual updates includes statistical information on teenage pregnancies based on age at conception, with the most recent information representing conceptions in 2006.  The release includes data by NHS Board of residence and Local Council Area for age group

The latest figures show:

• In 2006, the teenage pregnancy rate in the under
• There is a strong deprivation gradient.  The most deprived groups have approximately ten times the rate of delivery as the least deprived, and twice the rate of abortion.  These proportions have not varied much in recent years and do not vary much with age.

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24 June 2008
Immunisation Statistics, quarter ending March 2008

Quarterly and annual update of immunisation uptake rates for children aged 12 and 24 months and 5 and 6 years.  Includes data to 31 March 2008.

In Scotland as a whole, annual and quarterly uptake rates show that the 95% target for immunisation of 2 year olds is being met and exceeded for all primary immunisations apart from the first dose of MMR.  MMR uptake rates at 2 years have continued to be above 90% since autumn 2005. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) target for MMR is 95% uptake of the first dose by 5 years of age.   In Scotland the uptake rate is 94.4% for the financial year and 94.3% for the latest quarter, just below the WHO target.

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24 June 2008
Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland ? Suppplementary Information by Community Health Partnership from April 2008 Census

Previously published on 27th May 2008 - figures from the latest quarterly census of delayed discharges are now available by Community Health Partnership.

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24 June 2008
NHSScotland Workforce Statistics

Figures are released today on NHSScotland workforce statistics to 31st March 2008 and include:

• The use of bank and agency nurses for the year ending 31st March 2008.
• Annual sickness absence figures.
• Annual equality and diversity information.
• Doctors in training compliance with the new deal.
• Quarterly consultant staff in post figures.
• The latest figures show for example:
• The usage of agency nursing and midwifery staff has decreased by nearly a third (31%)
• 99.9% of doctors in training do not exceed the maximum average of 56 contracted hours agreed under the New Deal.

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24 June 2008
Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) of the new GMS contract ? Scotland-level prevalence figures 2007/08

This publication presents Scotland-level prevalence rates for all the diseases / conditions included in the Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) of the new General Medical Services contract.  Figures are shown for each of the four QOF years to date, up to and including those collected by general practices for ?National Prevalence Day?, 14th February 2008. It explains where these prevalence rates are directly comparable with previous QOF years and the definitional changes that limit the comparability of other figures.

The reported prevalence rates for hypertension (high blood pressure) and hypothyroidism have both risen gradually in each year since the introduction of the QOF in 2004/05.  The increases are likely to be due at least in part to improved case ascertainment by practices.

QOF-reported prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) stages 3-5 has risen to 2.5% from an initial figure of 1.8% for 2006/07.  An increase was expected, due to improved availability across Scotland in the clinical tests required to make the formal diagnosis of the stage of CKD.

Obesity rates reported by practices (related to patients aged 16 or over with a body mass index of 30 or more) rose from 7.0% in 2006/07 to 7.4% in 2007/08.  Both figures are lower than other rates shown elsewhere (for example, those summarised by the Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) at www.scotpho.org.uk ). 

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24 June 2008 
Health and Wellbeing Profiles for Community Health Partnership (CHP) Areas, 2008

This release provides health and wellbeing profiles for Scotland?s 40 Community Health Partnerships (CHPs), based on a set of 61 health indicators. The indicators cover health outcomes (eg deaths and hospitalisations), behaviour (smoking, alcohol and drug use) and wider determinants of health (eg employment, education and the environment). This is the first release of such profiles for CHP areas in Scotland.

Outputs from this release include:

• Individual profile reports for 30 CHPs in Scotland (this excludes the remaining 10 CHCPs in Greater Glasgow and Clyde since detailed profiles for these areas have been produced separately by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health at www.gcph.co.uk/communityprofiles );
• A Scotland Overview report which includes profile information for each NHS Board; and
• A full Technical Report giving methodological details
• Key findings include the following:
• Male life expectancy ranges from 67.9 years in the worst CHP to 77.3 years in the best; whilst female life expectancy ranges from 75.1 years to 81.2 years.
• The percentage of babies exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks ranges from 14.3% in the worst CHP to 42.5% in the best.

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24 June 2008
Long Term Conditions Reports

The SPARRA (Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission & Admission) risk-prediction tool is used to identify those patients at greatest risk of emergency admission in particular year.

Two reports are published:

• The current tool is applied to patients aged 65 & over who have had an emergency admission in the previous 3 years. The first report describes the outcome of work performed to extend the algorithm? so that it can be applied to patients of all ages.
• The second report outlines the main data sources for measuring long-term conditions, identifies the most common conditions and provides estimates for their prevalence in the population.

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24 June 2008
Mental Health (Psychiatric) Hospital Activity Statistics

Update of mental health (psychiatric) hospital activity statistics to the year ending 31 March 2007. Includes trends and population rates, geographic distributions and details of mental health diagnoses

For example:

• There were 24,294 inpatient admissions to mental health hospitals during the year ending 31 March 2007. This continues the downward trend seen in recent years.

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24 June 2008
Quarterly update of reimbursement and remuneration paid to dispensing contractors, up to March 2008

These tables are aimed at those with an understanding of payments made to dispensing contractors.  They are intended to be used as reference listings detailing payments made to Scottish dispensing contractors of pharmaceuticals, up to March 2008.

The main points are the number of prescription items dispensed and the cost for these items together with the fees paid to the dispensers. The payments include the total gross ingredient cost (GIC); the net ingredient cost (NIC); the cost of individual fees and allowances; the gross total and patient charges.

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May 2008

27 May 2008
Abortion Statistics, year ending December 2007

This annual update includes statistical information on notifications, to the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, of terminations of pregnancy under the Abortion Act 1967. 

Provisional figures show that there were 13,703 abortions performed in 2007.  This is a rate of 13.0 abortions for every 1000 women aged 15-44.

NHS Tayside, followed by NHS Grampain and NHS Lothian, show the highest rate of terminations while the Islands Boards and Borders have the lowest rates.

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27 May 2008
Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 31 March 2008 (quarterly and annual data)

This is the latest information (updated to March 2008) about patients on waiting lists and waiting times of those who have been seen or treated. This is the first publication of waiting times information since the introduction of ?New Ways? of defining and measuring waiting times; these New Ways statistics include some patients who would previously have been excluded from waiting time standards. The New Ways statistics are classed as ?provisional?.

Provisional statistics show:

• at 31 March 2008, 0.2% of new outpatients and 0.1% of inpatients and day cases were waiting longer than the 18 week national standard [these figures are expected to reduce following revision by some NHS Boards]
• 0.6% of new outpatients seen and 0.7% of inpatients and day cases treated in quarter ending 31 March 2008 had waited longer than the 18 week national standard [these figures are expected to reduce following revision by some NHS Boards]
• 1.9% of new outpatients and 10.6% of inpatients and day cases on waiting lists at 31 March 2008 were unavailable for treatment at that date
• 98% of patients attending A&E departments during quarter ending 31 March 2008 were seen within 4 hours

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27 May 2008
Clinical Decision-Making: Is the Patient Fit for Theatre?
A Report from the Scottish Hip Fracture Audit

This report presents data on the outcome of the preoperative assessment process of hip fracture patients in Scotland over 11 months in 2007.  It has identified variations in practice, common reasons for delays, and potential areas for improvement.  Hospitals will be able to review their practice against others and the Scottish average.

5447 hip fractures (92% of Scottish total) were audited between February and December 2007 ? 1254 (23%) patients were determined to be ?medically unfit? and surgery postponed at first theatre assessment.

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27 May 2008
Dental Statistics - quarter ending December 2007

There was an increase to the NHS General Dental Service registration data between quarter ending 30 September 2007 and 31 December 2007.  The percentage of the Scottish population registered with a dentist is 71.7% and 50.7% for children and adults respectively. This is an increase from 69.9% for children and 48.6% for adult registered at September 2007.

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27 May 2008
Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland (formerly Patients Ready for Discharge) figures from the April 2008

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 April 2008 . A delayed discharge occurs when a patient, clinically ready for discharge, cannot leave the hospital because the other necessary care, support or accommodation for them is not readily accessible and/or funding is not available, to purchase a care home place, for example.

There has been a considerable decrease in the number of patients delayed outwith the six week discharge planning period over the last six years. The latest figure of zero compares with 316 at the January 2008 census and with 233 at the April 2007 census.

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27 May 2008
Scottish Arthroplasty Project Annual Report 2008

This is the latest in a series of annual reports produced by the Scottish Arthroplasty ( Joint Replacement Surgery) Project.   There are a number of areas where there continues to be significant progress.

Data completeness is much better, the number of arthroplasties continues to rise, but the process of care is demonstrably more efficient and the numbers of revisions remain in check. Surgeons and boards are complying with the governance process. Perhaps most encouraging is that we can continue to detect an overall improvement in some outcomes (infection, death and dislocation) and note that orthopaedic surgeons who had outlying figures have, over time, come to lie within the accepted limits. There has been a significant increase in the number of hip and knee replacements done in the last year with no increase in bed capacity and minimal increase in consultant numbers.

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12 May 2008
Breastfeeding Statistics

Annual update of breastfeeding rates, including for the first time exclusive breastfeeding rates, for 11 NHS Boards in Scotland that use the Child Health Systems Programme Pre-School system.

• In calendar year 2007, 44.6% of mothers were breastfeeding at the First Visit review (at around 10 days). This includes 37.5% of mothers who were exclusively breastfeeding.
• At the 6-8 weeks review, 36.0% of mothers were breastfeeding in 2007.  This includes 26.4% who were exclusively breastfeeding.

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April 2008

29 April 2008
Acute Activity ? Emergency and Multiple Emergency Admissions Update

Refreshed emergency and multiple emergency admissions figures to year ending 31st March 2007 including occupied bed days, crude rates and age/sex/deprivation standardised rates.  These figures are broken down by health board, community health partnership (CHP) and age group.

• National 10 year trend data for the numbers of patients with 1 or more emergency admission within 365 days show
• relative stability in annual totals for patients aged 0 to 64 over this periodsteady year on year increase in totals for patients aged 65 and older, from approximately 120,000 in 1997/1998 to around 137,000 in 2006/2007 (i.e. a 14% increase overall)

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29 April 2008
Coronary Heart Disease Statistics

Update to coronary heart disease web pages presenting trends in mortality rate from coronary heart disease among the under 75s in the most deprived areas. Information is shown for males, females and both sexes by health board and for Scotland. Although previously available as a national target in the Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007, the targets are being added to the CHD website as new tables.

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March 2008

25 March 2008
Childhood Hospital Admissions and Child Mortality

• For children under the age of 15 years, the three most common main diagnoses for planned admissions in 2006/07 were: 'Disorders of teeth, tongue and mouth' (24.2%), 'Congenital anomalies' (10.4%) and 'Neoplastic disease' (9.9%).
• For children under the age of 15 years, the three most common diagnoses for emergency admissions in 2006/07 were: 'Respiratory disorders' (23.0%), 'Symptoms and signs without a definitive diagnosis' (21.1%) and 'Injuries and poisonings' (17.7%).
• Although death in childhood is rare, mortality rates are highest amongst children under the age of one year, with a rate of 45.0 per 10,000 population in 2006; this represents approximately two thirds of all deaths in children under 15 years of age (248 out of 362).  Most of these deaths occur in the first few days after birth.

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25 March 2008
Childhood immunisation uptake rates for quarter and year ending 31 December 2007.

Quarterly and annual update of immunisation uptake rates for children aged 12 and 24 months and 5 and 6 years.  Includes data to 31 December 2007 and annual uptake rates by deprivation (SIMD category).

In Scotland as a whole, annual and quarterly uptake rates show that the 95% target for immunisation of 2 year olds is being met and exceeded for all primary immunisations apart from the first dose of MMR (MMR1) where the uptake rates are 92.1% for the calendar year and 91.8% for the latest quarter.

Uptake rates of the Hib/MenC and PCV booster vaccinations by 24 months are reported for the first time this quarter and are 74.5% and 91.0% respectively.  These vaccines were introduced to the childhood immunisation schedule in September 2006 along with other substantial changes to the programme.  Uptake rates for the Hib/MenC booster are modest in comparison with other vaccinations but it is too early to draw any firm conclusions from this.

For the October-December quarter of 2007 and the calendar year of 2007, the uptake of the first dose of MMR (MMR1) by 5 years old is 94.4%, just below the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of 95%.

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25 March 2008
Drug Treatment Waiting Times Information Framework Report, October to December 2007

Data is presented for October-December 2007 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 2007

• 65% (3,946 clients) of those offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date within 14 days of referral (Table 1).
• 91% (3,054 clients) of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 14 days of date care plan agreed. (Table 2)

Tables and charts are presented by Alcohol and Drug Action Team area.

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25 March 2008
NHSScotland Workforce Statistics

Figures are released today on NHSScotland workforce statistics to 31st December 2007 for quarterly consultant staff in post figures.

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25 March 2008
Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland - Supplementary Information by Community Health Partnership from January 2008 census   

This supplementary information summarises the results of the census of delayed discharges from a ?snapshot? of NHS inpatients by Community Health Partnership as at the January 2008 census.

Patients are categorised according to the main reason for their continuing stay in the hospital ward at the time of the current census. Community Health Partnership is derived from the Patients postcode of residence.

Detailed findings and interpretation of the January 2008 census data can be found at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5414.html

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25 March 2008
Practice Team Information (PTI) Annual Update (2006/07)

The annual update of the Practice Team Information (PTI) website shows new and updated figures on activity in general practices in Scotland. Information collected from a sample of practices participating in PTI is used to estimate the number of patients consulting, the number of consultations and main reasons for consultations (diagnoses, symptoms, activities) in Scotland. New figures are released for 2006/07 alongside comparable figures for the previous three financial years.
GP and practice nurses together had a total estimated 23.7 million face-to-face contacts with patients in 2006/07.  This represents an increase of roughly 400,000 per year from the 22.6 million estimated for 2003/04.  Practice nurses have a large share of the activity (nearly a third of the combined number of consultations).

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25 March 2008
Update of prescribing statistics, looking at drugs indicated for the treatment of obesity and drugs used in rheumatic diseases and gout

Annual prescribing statistics showing the number and cost of prescriptions for medicines used to treat obesity and rheumatic diseases and gout in Scotland.

1. A total of 104,274 items were prescribed for the treatment of obesity in Scotland during 2006/07, an increase of 14,404 prescriptions (16%) over the previous financial year.

2. A total of 2.47 million non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, indicated for the treatment of arthritis and related conditions, were prescribed in Scotland during 2006/07, a decrease of 84,870 (3.3 %) from the previous year.

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25 March 2008
Quarterly update of reimbursement and remuneration paid to dispensing contractors, up to December 2007

These tables are aimed at those with an understanding of payments made to dispensing contractors.  They are intended to be used as reference listings detailing payments made to Scottish dispensing contractors of pharmaceuticals, up to December 2007.

The main points are the number of prescription items dispensed and the cost for these items together with the fees paid to the dispensers. The payments include the total gross ingredient cost (GIC); the net ingredient cost (NIC); the cost of individual fees and allowances; the gross total and patient charges.

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25 March 2008
NHS Smoking Cessation Service Statistics (Scotland) 1st January to 31st December 2007

This is the second annual release of statistics from the national monitoring of NHS smoking cessation services.  The report provides an analysis of quit attempts made, and quit outcomes,  during the 2007 calendar year.  Care should be taken in making direct comparisons between NHS board areas.  Differences in the types of services provided, under-recording of data and differences in the proportion of cases ?lost to follow-up?  all contribute to variations in findings across board areas.

Information is taken from the agreed national minimum dataset for smoking cessation services (developed by PATH, part of ASH Scotland ) and is based on 'quit attempts' made during the year.  The primary data source is the National Smoking Cessation Database, established by ISD Scotland in July 2005. 
Findings include:

• 41,424 quit attempts made during 2007 (46,466 in 2006).
• January was the busiest month for services.
• An estimated 3.9% of smokers in Scotland made a quit attempt with an NHS smoking cessation service during 2007.
• At 1 month follow-up - 37% had quit; 37% were still smoking and 25% were ?lost to follow-up?/smoking status unknown. 
• By 3 month follow-up the Scotland quit rate was 19%.
• Wide variation in numbers of quit attempts made and quit outcomes across NHS boards. Reasons for this are explored in the report. 

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February 2008

26 February
Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 31 December 2007 (quarterly and annual data)  

This is the latest information (updated to December 2007) about patients on waiting lists and waiting times of those who have been seen or treated.

Some of the key findings include:

• All inpatients, day cases and outpatients waiting at 31 December 2007 had been waiting 18 weeks or less.
• 98% of patients attending A&E departments during December 2007 were seen within 4 hours.
• Very few patients were waiting longer than local targets set for the component parts of the cataract and cardiac patient journeys

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26 February
Population Based Key Clinical Indicators for Sexual Health - Data for 2006

This document reports on the chlamydia, sterilisation and termination of pregnancy Key Clinical Indicators with data from calendar year 2006.

The data show

• Chlamydia testing in sexually active people aged less than 25 should continue to be actively encouraged.
• Rates of sterilisation in women aged 15 ? 44 have decreased slightly since 2005
• Numbers of vasectomies have increased slightly since 2005
• The proportion of early terminations (under 10 weeks) has increased from 66.5% in 2005 to 67.3% in 2006.

The Key Clinical Indicators for sexual health have been developed by the Action 12 subgroup on behalf of the National Sexual Health Advisory Committee (NSHAC).

The Key Clinical Indicators are part of the wider quality framework for sexual health. The indicators helped to inform the development of the Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) Sexual Health Service Standards and also the National Sexual Health System (NaSH) with its associated datasets, developed by the National Clinical Dataset Development Programme (NCDDP).

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26 February
Mental Health (Psychiatric) Activity Statistics

Update of mental health (psychiatric) hospital activity statistics to the year ending 31st March 2006.  Includes trends and geographic distributions.

• 25,010 inpatient admissions to mental health hospitals occurred in 2005/2006 continuing the trend of gradual decrease in recent years.
• 58% of admissions were for patients who had a previous spell of psychiatric inpatient care.

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26 February
Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland (formerly Patients Ready for Discharge) figures from the January 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 January 2008 . A delayed discharge occurs when a patient, clinically ready for discharge, cannot leave the hospital because the other necessary care, support or accommodation for them is not readily accessible and/or funding is not available, to purchase a care home place, for example.

There has been a considerable decrease in the number of patients delayed outwith the six week discharge planning period over the last six years. Figures show that 323 patients who are ready for discharge from hospital  had been awaiting discharge for over six weeks at the January 2008 census. This is 283 less than the equivalent number (606) awaiting discharge at the same point last year and 102 lower than the number (425) at the October 2007 census.  

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26 February
Workforce Planning for Psychology Services in NHS Scotland: Characteristics of the Workforce Supply in 2007

This release is a collaborative piece of work between ISD and NHS Education for Scotland, and presents psychology services workforce information as at 30th September 2007.

In total there were 523 wte Clinical&Other Applied Psychologists employed in NHSScotland at 30th September 2007. This is an increase of 10% Clinical&Other Applied Psychologists compared to 30th September 2006. 

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26 February
Local information on alcohol and drug use - 2008  

This is a compendium of local statistics on alcohol and drug use, brought together from previously published national sources.  The statistics are primarily intended to provide easily accessible information to Alcohol and Drug Action Teams to support local planning and service provision.  Similar statistics were previously provided in Local Alcohol Profiles (2004 and 2006) and published on the website.

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January 2008

29 January 2008
NHSScotland Workforce Statistics

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 at 30th September 2007.  Information on Community & Hospital Medical and Dental staff and staff employed in the General Medical Service and General Dental Service to 30th September is also included.

The number of staff employed in NHSScotland at 30th September 2007 was 162,148 (headcount).  Nursing & midwifery staff account for 41.3% of all staff (headcount) employed in NHSScotland.

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29 January 2008
Information on Scottish General Practices, their populations and their GPs

Key findings include:

• There has been a steady increase in the headcount of GPs in post over the last 4 years, rising from 4456 in 2004 to 4721 in 2007 (an increase of 5.9%).
• The number of female GPs in post has increased from 2026 in 2004 to 2293 in 2007 (an increase of 13.2%).  
• The average list size of GP practices in Scotland is 5315 as of 1st October 2007. This is based on data from 1029 practices. 

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29 January 2008
Web based Clinical Outcome indicators

This is the biannual update of trends for six established hospital acute care patient outcome indicators. These cover: acute myocardial infarction (commonly known as heart attack); hip fracture; selected planned operations; stroke; surgical readmissions and medical readmissions. Figures are available at NHS Board and hospital level for years ending 31st December 1998-2006 for:

• Acute myocardial infarction: survival for 30 days after emergency admission;
• Hip fracture: survival for 30 and 120 days after admission;
• Selected planned operations: mortality within 30 days of surgery;
• Stroke: survival for 30 days after emergency admission;
• Surgical readmissions within 7 & 28 days of discharge
• Medical readmissions within 7 & 28 days of discharge

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29 January 2008
Dental Statistics

This release covers bi-annual figures published on the number of dentists working in the General Dental Service (GDS) and annual figures on the number of Hospital and Community Dentists.  Dental registration figures for children and adults are updated for September 2007 and annual figures on the Hospital Dental Service (HDS) are updated for year ending 31 March 2007.

• The total number (headcount) of dentists working in NHS GDS, HDS & CDS has increased by 2.7% from 2,842 as at 30 September 2006 to 2,920 as at 30 September 2007.
• The number (percentage of population) of children and adults registered with NHS General Dental Services in Scotland at 30 September 2007 was 734,174 (69.9%) and 1,975,181 (48.6%) respectively.  Children are defined as those aged under 18.  Adults are defined as those aged 18 and over.

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29 January 2008
Child & Adolescent Health Services (CAMHS) in NHS Scotland: Characteristics of the Workforce Supply in 2006

This is the second publication of Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Workforce Statistics by ISD in partnership with the Mental Health Division, Scottish Government Health Department.  These data reflect in depth information collected for this Service which supplement the routine published 2006 NHS Workforce Statistics.  The analysis provides a detailed description of the nature and extent of CAMHS provision in Scotland by NHS Region and Board.

This latest data indicates that:

• 741 serving staff members (654.73wte) were working in CAMHS in Scotland as at 30th September 2006.
• Nationally, this represents a staffing level of 12.8 clinical workers per 100,000 of the population of Scotland, although rates vary considerably between NHS Boards.