Archive of Releases

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.August 2008

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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%.

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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

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.

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.

December 2007

16 December 2007
Cancer Survival Statistics

Cancer survival statistics are important to patients as they give an indication of the likelihood of surviving a specified length of time after the diagnosis of a given cancer. However, the survival prospects of any given individual may vary considerably from the 'average' survival, depending on, for example, the particular features of their cancer.

• Survival from cancer has, in general, increased between the periods of 1980-1984 and 2000-2004.
• 5 year relative survival has, in absolute percentages, increased by 17 percentage points for males, and 13 percentage points for females, when looking at all cancers combined over that time period.
• Largest absolute increases in survival are found in breast, colorectal and prostate cancers, malignant melanoma of the skin, lymphomas and leukaemias.
• Details of the analysis and results can be found in the summary document "Trends in Cancer Survival in Scotland 1980-2004", on this website.

16 December 2007
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. Data refers only to those medicines dispensed in the community. Hospital dispensed medicines are not included.

• The prescribing of hypnotics, anxiolytics and barbiturates rose between 2005/06 and 2006/07 by 1.24%, from 2.10 million items to 2.13 million times.
• The rate of increase in the prescribing of medicines indicated for depression increased, from 1.4% in 2005/06 to 3.57% in 2006/07. In total 3.65 million 'antidepressant' items were prescribed in 2006/07.
• The volume of medicines indicated for psychoses and related disorders rose between 2005/06 and 2006/07 from 626,185 to 670,842 items; an increase of 7.13%.
• Prescriptions for medicines used in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) increased by 20.1% to 59,461 prescribed items between 2005/06 and 2006/07.
• The number of prescriptions dispensed for medicines indicated for dementia continues to rise, up 14%, to 83,643 items in 2006/07.

16 December 2007
Alcohol related hospital statistics

This publication presents information on alcohol-related discharges from general acute hospitals and psychiatric hospitals.

• Over the last five years, the discharge rate has increased by 7 % to 762 discharges per 100,000 population in 2006/07.
• In 2005/06, there were 64 psychiatric inpatient discharges per 100,000 population with a main diagnosis of an alcohol-related condition.

16 December 2007
Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2007

This publication is the latest annual compilation of available information on drug misuse. Much of the information presented has been published previously. This annual publication presents the latest available information from a range of national data sources relevant to drug misuse. This year there are four main sections:

• Prevalence of drug misuse
• Services and treatment for drug misusers.
• Health impact of drug misuse.
• Drugs and criminal justice.

Key points include:

• For clients reported to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database the male attendance rate was more than twice the female attendance rate (354 per 100,000 population for males, 156 per 100,000 population for females).
• Of those reporting illicit drug use to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database, 68% reported using heroin (6,756 individuals).

16 December 2007
Drug Treatment Waiting Times Information Framework Report - July to September 2007

Data is presented for July - September 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 July - September 2007

• 67% (4,580 clients) of those offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date within 14 days of referral (Table 1).
• 90% (3,209 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.

16 December 2007
Childhood Obesity Statistics

Update of annual statistics on high and low body mass index (BMI) for Primary 1 school children in nine participating NHS Boards in Scotland. The release includes data to school year 2006/07.

Using the 1990 UK growth reference standard, in 2006/07, 21.0% of children in Primary 1 were overweight, including 8.5% who were obese and 4.3% who were severely obese.

Although levels of high BMI decreased slightly from 2005/06 (22.0% overweight, including 9.1% obese and 4.4% severely obese) to 2006/07, overall, levels have gradually increased from those for 2000/01 (19.7% overweight, including 8.0% obese and 3.9% severely obese).

16 December 2007
Child Health Statistics: SNS (Support Needs System) Annual Summary Statistics 2007

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 NHS Board of assessment and Scotland, as at August 2007.

Overall, in the ten participating Boards with data available, 14,806 children and young people had assessment data recorded on SNS. Of these children, 80.2% had at least one disability (mild, moderate or severe) recorded and 35.7% required at least one type of service.

16 December 2007
Unintentional Injuries

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 2006/07, unintentional injuries accounted for approximately 1 in 5 emergency hospital admissions for children and 1 in 7 for adults.

The number of emergency admissions to hospital as a result of unintentional injury has decreased by 11% over the period 1999/00 to 2006/07.

16 December 2007
Quarterly update of dispensing contractors' remuneration

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 September 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.

16 December 2007
Delayed Discharges in NHSScotland - Supplementary Information by Community Health Partnership from October 2007 census

Previously published on 27th November 2007 - figures from the latest quarterly census of delayed discharges are now available by Community Health Partnership.

November 2007

27 November 2007
Waiting Times for Hospital Care

This is the latest information (updated to September 2007) about patients on waiting lists and waiting times of those who have been seen or treated. In addition the annual update of detailed information on activity is also included in this release.

Some of the key findings include:

• Almost all outpatients waiting at the 30 September 2007 had been waiting less than 26 weeks. The number of patients waiting over 18 weeks increased by 9% since the last quarter.
• The waiting times for patients admitted during the year ending 31 September 2007 were shorter on average. No patients were waiting over 26 weeks at 30 September 2007 and only 1 patient had been waiting over 18 weeks.
• 97% of patients attending A&E departments during September 2007 were seen within 4 hours.
• The number of patients waiting more than 9 weeks for diagnostic tests and investigations continued to fall markedly.

27 November 2007
Patients Ready for Discharge from NHS Hospitals - October 2007 Census

The latest quarterly census of patients who are ready for discharge from hospital show that 425 had been waiting for over six weeks. This was an annual decrease of 37% although almost the same number as reported for the July 2007 census.

27 November 2007
Scottish Health Service Costs Book for the Year Ended 31 March 2007

The Costs Book 2007 provides a detailed analysis of where resources are spent in the NHSS. The net operating cost of the 14 territorial NHS Boards as well as 8 special NHS Boards, and also the Mental Welfare Commission and the Mental Health Tribunal amounted to £8.9 billion as recorded in their annual accounts. The Costs Book detailed reports are structured to analyse nearly 90% (£7.8 billion) of this total presenting information on those Boards that provide hospital and community care directly to patients.

Some examples of the data available:

• Hospital running costs have increased by 4.5% in the last financial year to £4.7 billion
• £93M is spent on cleaning Scotland's hospitals
• £1.1 billion was spent on pharmaceutical services provided at nearly 1,200 pharmacies, including just over £890 million worth of prescription drugs

27 November 2007
Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality (SASM) - Annual Report 2006 

SASM carries out a review of all deaths of patients in hospital while under the care of a surgeon. It is a voluntary and confidential audit by surgeons and anaesthetists and has a high compliance rate.

In 2006 nearly surgical 3640 deaths were identified by the audit of which just over 3250 were reviewed. The vast majority, nearly 3,000 were emergency or urgent admissions for surgical care.

27 November 2007
Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) Uptake in Scotland: 2003/04-06/07

This is the first time that information on Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) has been published. These contraception methods include: intrauterine devices (IUDs); intrauterine systems (IUSs) such as Mirena; and implants such as Implanon. Although the data collection methods are still under development, these statistics provide a valuable insight into this service.

Data show that in Scotland:

• There is good progress in increasing the uptake of LARC but rates are still relatively low.
• Methods such as the contraceptive implant (Implanon) and IUS (Mirena) can be available less often in primary care, where many women access their contraception.
• Of the very long acting methods Mirena is the most popular, and uptake is growing, as is Implanon although less rapidly.
• Depo-Provera, provided by injection, continues to be the most used LARC but is decreasing in uptake.

27 November 2007
Sexually Transmitted Infections and Other Sexual Health Information: 2007

This is the third annual report produced by the Sexually Transmitted Infection Epidemiology Advisory Group (STIEAG). In a significant development this report introduces data relating to other aspects of sexual health for the first time as a start in the process of drawing together information on this topic.

Key points from the report include:

• There was a 13% increase in workload in Genito Urinary Medicine clinics between 2005 and 2006. This compares with a 10% increase between 2004 and 2005.
• The number of chlamydia diagnoses in Scotland increased by 4% between 2005 and 2006 to 17926. This represents a smaller increase than in recent years.
• In 2006, 345 new cases of HIV were newly reported in Scotland.

27 November 2007
Notifiable Infectious Disease Statistics: 2006

This update of statistics on confirmed infectious disease notifications for Scotland is for the year ended 31 December 2006. It includes trends and rates for common childhood diseases as well as other diseases such as tuberculosis. Food poisoning notifications are also included.

• Compared with 2005 mumps notifications have fallen by 48% to just over 2900 following the 2005/06 outbreak.
• Childhood chicken pox notifications increased to nearly 14,900 between 2005 and 2006, although still considerably less than reported in 2004.
• Just over 410 tuberculosis notifications were received.

October 2007

30 October 2007
Coronary Heart Disease statistics update

Update of annual Coronary Heart Disease statistics including information at NHS Board, Local Council and Community Health Partnership level.  Mortality, prescribing, incidence, survival, emergency admissions and primary care consultations data to 2006 and hospital activity, operations and waiting times data to 31 March 2007 are included in this release.

30 October 2007
Stroke statistics update

Update of annual stroke statistics including information at NHS Board, Local Council and Community Health Partnership level. Mortality, prescribing, incidence, survival and primary care consultations data to 2006 and hospital activity and operations data to 31 March 2007 are included in this release.

30 October 2007
Dental Statistics

Data will be published on NHS General Dental Service registrations for quarter ending June 2007. Information on the Community Dental Service will also be published on number of patients and courses of treatment up to the financial year ending 31 March 2007.

30 October 2007
Teenage Pregnancies, year ending December 2005

Update of annual statistical information on teenage pregnancies for Scotland.  Includes data to 31 December 2005.

30 October 2007
Scottish Perinatal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity Report 2006

Annual report summarising rates of stillbirths and infant deaths in Scotland in 2006, along with trends over time.  The report also includes data on the prevalence of selected congenital anomalies and a clinically focused chapter titled "Recent trends in the incidence of ectopic pregnancy".

30 October 2007
Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group: Audit of Critical Care in Scotland 2005/2006

The SICSAG 2005/2006 audit report publishes information including demographics, interventions and case mix adjusted outcomes from general adult Intensive Care Units in Scotland.  A subset of these data is also included in relation to High Dependency Units.SEPTEMBER 2007

September 2007

25 September 2007
Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) of the new General Medical Services Contract.  

The Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) is part of the new General Medical Services contract.  It is designed to remunerate general practices for providing good quality care to their patients, and to help fund work to further improve the quality of health care delivered. Introduced in 2004, the QOF was revised significantly for 2006/07, its third year. In particular it now includes indicators for a wider range of health conditions than was the case previously.

25 September 2007
Cancer Mortality (2006)

This is the annual update of cancer mortality statistics for 1980-2006, with the addition of 2006. Detailed information for approximately 40 cancers is given.

• Approximately 15,000 people died from cancer in 2006.
• Taking all cancers combined, age-standardised cancer mortality rates have decreased by about 8% over the last 10 years, with a greater decrease in males than in females.
• The cancers that account for the greatest number of deaths are lung, colorectal, breast and prostate. All of these are decreasing, except lung cancer in females, which continues to increase.

25 September 2007
NHS Complaints

This is the annual update of the number of NHS Complaints received by Hospital & Community Services and Family Health Services  in Scotland.  Statistics are shown for Health Boards; Special Health Boards; National & Support Organisations and the Scottish Health Council.  The latest data released are for 2006/07, and cover areas such as time taken to deal with complaints, issues raised and outcomes.

• The number of complaints for Hospital and Community Health Services continues to fall with nearly 7350 reported in 2006/07.
• However, only 59% were dealt with within the national target of 20 working days.

25 September 2007
Obesity in Scotland

This is the first in a series of reports by the Scottish Public Health Observatory on key public health issues in Scotland. This report provides an overview of the epidemiology of obesity in Scotland, describing geographical and social variations, health inequalities and related morbidity and mortality for this condition. The report concludes by identifying some important information needs and gaps for public health intelligence on obesity in Scotland.

25 September 2007
Prescribing Statistics

Three data series are released:
Annual prescribing statistics
Tables are published showing prescribing trends, top ten drugs, generic drugs, nurse prescribing, cost of drugs, dispensing fees and community pharmacy information in Scotland.

• There was a 2.9% increase in the number of prescriptions dispensed.
• However there was a 0.6% decrease in the gross cost of ingredients for these prescriptions

The Minor Ailment Service
The Minor Ailment Service (MAS) is a new pharmaceutical service available to eligible patients across Scotland for the treatment of minor ailments. This service based upon community pharmacies provides NHS treatment (or advice/counselling) for eligible Scottish patients. The MAS has been available throughout Scotland from July 2006 and this is the first statistical publication describing this activity.

• Over 817 thousand patients were registered for this service in June 2007

Quarterly update of dispensing contractors' remuneration
This is a routine update of reference information up to June 2007.

25 September 2007
Drug Treatment Waiting Times Information Framework Report April to June 2007-09-20

Data are presented on the number of clients seen and the length of time they waited to be seen for drug treatment interventions. Tables and charts are presented by Alcohol and Drug Action Team area.

• In the April - June quarter 70% of clients who were offered an appointment for assessment were offered a date within 14 days of referral.
• In the same quarter 88% of those offered an appointment for treatment were offered a date within 14 days of referral.

25 September 2007
Towards Better Data from Scottish Hospitals: An Assessment of SMR01 and Associated Data 2004-2006, Scotland Report September 2007

This publication summarises the findings of a national data quality assurance assessment of Patient and Day Case episode data collected by ISD. There is an emphasis on the quality of clinical coding with some findings broken down by hospital of NHS Board.

• In summary this survey finds that the quality of recording of main diagnosis and main operation collected in national data sets for statistical reporting purposes remains high. However it could improve further if documentation available to clinical coders were improved.

25 September 2007
Childhood Immunisation uptake rates, quarter and year ending 30 June 2007

Quarterly and annual primary immunisation uptake rates for children aged 12 and 24 months and uptake rates for primary vaccinations and the pre-school boosters at 5 and 6 years. Includes data to 30 June 2007.

• In Scotland as a whole the 95% target for immunisation of 2 year olds is being met and exceeded for all primary immunisations apart from MMR.
• For the April-June quarter of 2007 the uptake of first dose MMR (MMR1) for 2 and 5 year olds remains high and stable at 92.3% and 94.4% respectively.

25 September 2007
NHSScotland Workforce Statistics

Figures are released today on NHSScotland workforce statistics to 30th June 2007 for quarterly consultant staff in post figures.

25 September 2007
Older People Services Measuring Relative Need, Statistical Report 2007

Older people in long stay hospital wards generally had markedly higher care and dependency needs than residents in care homes.

• Around 53% of the hospital patients surveyed were classed as high dependency in the latest year.
• 15% of residents in the care homes surveyed in eight NHS board areas in Scotland were classed as having high dependency.

25 September 2007
Patients Ready for Discharge in NHSScotland - Supplementary Information by Community Health Partnership from July 2007 census

Previously published on 28 August 2007 - figures from the latest quarterly census of patients who are ready for discharge are available by Community Health Partnership.

August 2007

Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 30 June 2007 (quarterly and annual data)

Latest figures for waiting times of patients on waiting lists or patients who have been seen/treated are made available.  In this release information is published for the first time on whole journey measures from referral to treatment for cardiac surgery and for cataracts.

Some of the key findings include:

• The latest outpatient waiting time figures show a reduction in the number of patients who had been waiting more than 18 weeks at the most recent census date, and maintenance of performance in the indicators for those seen during the year ended 30 June 2007.
• The latest waiting times figures for inpatient and day case admissions show improvements with fewer patients waiting at the most recent census date, and improvements in the waiting times of those patients admitted during the year ended 30 June 2007.
• The latest figures show that waiting times in A&E departments have improved, with 96% seen within 4 hours during June.
• The number of patients waiting more than 9 weeks for diagnostic tests and investigations continued to fall.

Patients Ready for Discharge in NHSScotland figures from July 2007 census  

Figures from the latest quarterly census of patients who are ready for discharge from hospital show that 423 had been awaiting discharge for over six weeks at the July 2007 census. This is 204 less than the equivalent number (627) awaiting discharge at the same point last year and 190 higher than the number (233) at the April 2007 census.

Scottish Hip Fracture Audit Report 2007

Scottish Hip Fracture Audit (SHFA) reports core acute and outcome statistics for hip fracture patients in 14 hospitals that contributed to the audit in 2006. These include time in the emergency department, time to theatre, length of acute orthopaedic and hospital stay, residence and survival at six weeks post-admission, and rates of return to home, mobility, independence and pain. 

Key findings include:

• 82% of hip fracture patients were transferred through the emergency department within four hours
• 86% of medically fit patients who were operated on went to theatre within 24 safe * operating hours of ward admission. (*safe operating hours are between 8 am and 8 pm, seven days a week)
• The median total length of hospital stay was 24 days

July 2007

Influenza Update 2006/07

This release gives an update on flu related activity in primary care, adding data for the most recent flu season (winter 2006/07) and updating data for previous years.

• During the winter of 2006/07 no major rise in GP consultations for flu-related illness was recorded.
• The total number of flu vaccinations dispensed continued to rise to a total of over 1.1 million over the financial year 2006/07.
• The vaccination uptake in patients aged 65 and over was just over 75%, which is nearly as high as in the record-year 2005/06 and well over the target of 70%.
• Due to problems in vaccine supply, the period over which vaccinations took place was extended to cover nearly all of the last three months of 2006.
• In most general practices the majority of flu vaccinations are administered by practice nurses.

Scottish Breast Screening Programme Statistics 2005/2006

Annual update of breast screening statistics to 31st March 2006, including uptake, cancer detection rates, biopsy results and other outcomes.

• 10 of the 11 NHS Breast Screening Programme performance standards are being achieved, including uptake, cancer detection and early recall rates.
• The uptake of breast screening continues to rise, with 77.4% attendance among women aged 50-64 invited for a routine screening appointment.
• 1,348 cases of cancer were diagnosed in women of all ages, of which 849 were diagnosed in women aged 50-64.

Scottish Cervical Screening Programme Statistics 2005/2006

Annual and quarterly update of cervical screening statistics to 31st March 2007, including new annual summary tables of uptake by age group and smear results, and updated summary tables of uptake by healthboard and numbers of smears processed.

• Of eligible women, 76.5 % had been screened for cervical cancer in the previous 3.5 years and 82.6% in the previous 5.5 years.
• Over 401,700 cervical smears were processed within the programme, of which over 392,200 were satisfactory. Approximately 3.5% showed some degree of pre-cancerous change.

Dental Statistics

Data is published on NHS General Dental Service registrations, treatments and fees for year ending 31 March 2007. Workforce figures for the General Dental Service are published as at 31 March 2007. Information on the Hospital Dental Service is published on new outpatients, inpatients and day cases for financial year ending 31 March 2006.

Mental Health (Psychiatric) Hospital Activity Statistics

Update of mental health (psychiatric) hospital activity statistics to the year ending 31st March 2005. Includes trends and population rates, geographic distributions and details of mental health diagnoses.

• 27,136 inpatient admissions to mental health hospitals occurred in 2004/2005 continuing the trend of gradual decrease in recent years.
• 58% of admissions were for patients who had a previous spell of psychiatric inpatient care.
• Approximately 15% of admissions were made formally under jurisdiction of the mental health act in Scotland.
• Schizophrenia and alcohol/drug related problems account for 45% of discharge diagnoses in men, while dementia and mood (affective) disorders are most commonly diagnosed in women (50%).

Web based Clinical Outcome indicators

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 1998-2006.

Mystery Shopper Study 2007: A Study of Service Access for Acute STIs in Scotland

A report responding to the Key Clinical Indicator (KCI) for sexual health looking at service access for individuals with symptoms suggestive of an acute sexually transmitted infection. Service access was determined using a 'mystery shopper' approach.
This is the first time that data on this KCI have been published and the report includes:
Baseline data by NHS Board of treatment on service access to sexual and reproductive health services in Scotland
By GUM and Family Planning Clinics
The results show that a high percentage of clinics in Scotland were able to see these patients within the recommended time of 48 hours.

Measuring quality in primary medical services using data from SPICE 

This is a one-off report giving the results of a one year project, funded by NHS QIS (Quality Improvement Scotland), using data from SPICE (Scottish Programme for Improving Clinical Effectiveness in Primary Care) to investigate changes in recording of measurements in GP practices before and after the nGMS contract, the possible benefits of looking at improvements rather than values at fixed points in time, and the treatment of deprived individuals in affluent and deprived practices.A summary leaflet is also available.

27 July 2007
Suicide Statistics 2006 

The latest statistics on suicide are released today as part of the Annual Report of the Registrar General for Scotland (GROS) for 2006. The Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) provide a more detailed summary of suicide in Scotland based on raw mortality data from GROS. These are published on the ScotPHO website to coincide with the release of the GROS figures.

17 July 2007
Genito-Urinary Medicine Supplementary Tables, year ending December 2006

The annual update of statistical information on sexually transmitted infections (STI) presents data from Genito-urinary Medicine clinics in Scotland. The publication of these data tables is timed to coincide with a similar publication by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in London, on sexually transmitted infections diagnosed at Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) clinics covering the whole of the UK available at: http://www.hpa.org.uk .

The data published today will be used by ISD and Health Protection Scotland (HPS) to produce the Annual Report on Sexual Health in Scotland in November 2007. This will include interpretation and comment on these data. A UK wide publication, to which all countries within the UK contribute, will also be published in November by HPA.

June 2007

Childhood immunisation uptake rates, quarter and year ending 31 March 2007

Quarterly and annual primary immunisation uptake rates for children aged 12 and 24 months and uptake rates for primary vaccinations and the pre-school boosters at 5 and 6 years.  Includes data to 31 March 2007.

• At Scotland level, quarterly uptake rates at 12 months of age for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib and MenC remain above 95%.
• At Scotland Level, quarterly uptake rates at 24 months of age for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib and MenC have remained relatively stable at around 98%.
• Uptake of the first dose of MMR (MMR1) at 24 months for children born in the 1st quarter of 2005 is 92.3%.  This is a decrease of 0.5 percentage points from the previous quarter when the rate was 92.8% (children born 4th quarter of 2004).

NHSScotland Workforce Statistics

Figures are released today on NHSScotland workforce statistics to 31st March 2007 and include:
Vacancies for nursing & midwifery  and allied health professionals, and corresponding staff in post figures.

• The use of Bank and Agency nurses
• Consultant staff in post figures
• Sickness Absence

Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) of the new GMS contract - National Prevalence Day Scotland-Level Estimates for 2006/07

The Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) is a fundamental part of the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract, introduced on 1st April 2004. Prevalence data collected as QOF 'registers' form an integral part of the framework in determining the level of payment awarded to individual practices. Prevalence is based on practice submissions of register sizes of the diseases and conditions within the clinical domain areas. Unchanged between 2004/05 and 2005/06, elements of the QOF (particularly within the clinical domain) changed significantly for the year commencing April 2006. This publication presents annual Scotland-level prevalence data for all the registers ever included in the QOF. It explains where rates are directly comparable over time and the definitional changes that limit the comparability in other areas. The QOF introduced a number of new registers for 2006/07 and national prevalence is published for the first time in these areas. 

General Ophthalmic Services

This release provides data on:

• NHS eye examinations for financial year ending 31 March 2007
• NHS voucher claims for financial year ending 31 March 2007

New information is provided on referrals and on reasons for primary and supplementary NHS eye examinations respectively.
Trend data on NHS eye examinations and voucher claims are available for financial years ending 31 March 1999-2007.

These data can be found on the ISD Scotland website at:
www.isdscotland.org/isd/4713.html

Emergency admissions for heart attack, unstable angina and stroke January 2005 to September 2006 by month

Update to coronary heart disease and stroke web pages presenting new summary, by month, on emergency admissions for heart attack, unstable angina and stroke from January 2005 to September 2006 by NHS Board.  No other tables are updated.It can be found on ISD Scotland's website in Table AC3 at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/2446.html

Quarterly update of dispensing contractors remuneration

These schedules are aimed at those with an understanding of payments made to dispensing contractors. The tables are intended to be used as reference listings detailing payments made to Scottish dispensing contractors of pharmaceuticals, up to March 2007.
Retrospective changes have been made to more accurately reflect Minor Ailments Capitation Payments and Stoma Fees, therefore figures will not necessarily match previous 2006/07 publications. 
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.

Patients Ready for Discharge in NHSScotland - Supplementary Information by Community Health Partnership from April 2007 census

Previously published on 29 May 2007 - figures from the latest quarterly census of patients who are ready for discharge are now available by Community Health Partnership.

Audiology Services Activity Data

Information on Audiology Services activity and maximum waiting times by NHS Board: quarterly to 31st March 2007

This report has been withdrawn from publication because of concerns about the quality of the data and its fitness for purpose.

Main contact: Ron Smith
Ronald.Smith@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

The Scotland and European Health for All (HfA) Database 2007 

This update of the database comprises:

• 600 health and health-related indicators, with Scottish data gathered for 488 (over 81%)
• time trends based on annual data, from 1970 to 2005 where available
• data for Scotland and the 53 Member States currently in the WHO European Region, including the UK, plus averages.

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. 

National Drug Treatment Waiting Times  

Data is presented on the number of clients seen and the length of time they waited to be seen for drug treatment interventions. Tables and charts are presented by Alcohol and Drug Action Team area.

May 2007

Patients Ready for discharge in NHSScotland - figures from April 2007 census

Figures from the latest quarterly census of patients who are ready for discharge from hospital show that 233 had been awaiting discharge for over six weeks at the April 2007 census. This is 53% less than the equivalent number (498) awaiting discharge at the same point last year and 62% less than the number (606) at the January 2007 census. [Note: a change in the definition of a delayed discharge was introduced in July 2006 - see the Statistical Publication Notice for details].

Cancer Incidence (2004)

Annual update of cancer registration information showing cancer incidence from 1980-2004. Registrations for the year 2004 have been added and registrations for previous years updated. Detailed information for 50 types of cancer is given.

Taking all cancers combined, in recent years the age-standardised incidence rate has fallen slightly for men and remained relatively stable for women. However 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 (males only). Actual numbers of cases of cancer have risen, largely due to an ageing population.

Abortions Statistics, 2006

Update of annual statistical information on notifications, to the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, of terminations of pregnancy under the Abortion Act 1967.
The release includes:

• Annual numbers and rates for Scotland and NHS Board by place, age, deprivation, gestation, method, parity and Grounds.
• Annual numbers by NHS Board of residence and NHS Board at treatment.
• Annual numbers and rates by Council area of residence and age

Provisional figures show that there were 13,081 abortions performed in 2006. This is a rate of 12.4 abortions for every 1000 women aged 15-44.

Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey 2006 - national and local reports

This is a report of the most recent in the series of school surveys used to monitor and measure smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in Scotland, conducted in 2006.
In 2002 and 2006 approximately 23,000 pupils were sampled in S2 and S4 in order to provide local as well as national information.

ISD commission SALSUS on behalf of the Scottish Executive. The survey in 2006 was conducted by BMRB Social Research.

Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 31 March 2007 (quarterly and annual data)

The NHS in Scotland has been set a number of targets for maximum waiting times. The Scottish Executive continues to be committed to improving information on waiting to provide a clear and transparent picture of NHS performance.
Information on activity and beds are included in this release, and provide context to the waiting times statistics.

• The latest outpatient waiting time figures shows a reduction in the number of patients who had been waiting more than 18 weeks at the most recent census date, and improvements in the indicators for those seen during the year ended 31 March 2007.
• The latest waiting times figures for inpatient and day case admissions also show improvements with fewer patients waiting at the most recent census date, and improvements in the waiting times of those patients admitted during the year ended 31 March 2007.
• The latest figures show that waiting times in A&E departments have remained stable, with 93% seen within 4 hours during March.

The number of patients waiting more than 9 weeks for diagnostic tests and investigations continued to fall.

Scottish Arthroplasty Project - Annual Report

This is the latest in a series of annual reports produced by the Scottish Arthroplasty Project. There are a number of areas where there continues to be significant progress. The number of arthroplasties (joint replacements) 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 clinical governance process. Perhaps most encouraging is that we can now detect an overall improvement in some outcomes (infection, death and dislocation) and note that individuals who had outlying figures have, over time, come to lie within the accepted limits.

Scottish Renal Registry Report 2002-2004

This fourth report from the Scottish Renal Registry follows the previous outline and presents information about the causes, incidence, prevalence, distribution, methods of treatment and outcome of patients receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) for established renal failure (ERF) between 1960 and 31 December 2004.

The first patient was dialysed for ERF in Scotland in 1960. Up to 31 December 2004, 10305 patients had been accepted for long-term RRT.

The median age for new patients starting RRT for ERF has risen from 24 in 1964 to 65 in 2004. 3640 patients were receiving RRT for ERF on 31 December 2004.

• The take on rate for new patients was 110 per million of the population in 2000 and 113 in 2004. In 2004 48% of patients had a functioning kidney transplant, 41% were being treated with haemodialysis (HD) and 11% with peritoneal dialysis (PD).
• Some 87% of patients using HD achieved a urea reduction ratio of >65%. This has improved steadily from a figure of 42% in 1994.

Breastfeeding Statistics

Annual update of breastfeeding rates in Scotland. This release includes figures for babies born in 2006 for NHS Boards that use the Child Health Surveillance Programme Pre-School system.

Provisional data for 2006 show that 44.2% of mothers were recorded as breastfeeding their babies at the health visitors first visit (around 10 days) and 36.3% of mothers were recorded as breastfeeding their babies at 6-8 weeks.  This compares with 45.1% and 37.2% respectively in 2005.

April 2007

Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics - October to December 2006

Quarterly update of the number of cervical smears processed, average reporting times and results of smear tests.

• The total number of cervical smears processed in October 2006 to December 2006 was 93,825 with an average reporting time of 12 days.
• This is a decrease in smears of 5.0% compared with the previous quarter and a decrease of 2.7% on the same period in 2005 .
• The percentage of unsatisfactory smears was 2.3% and the percentage of satisfactory smears reported as negative was 92.3%. These figures are broadly similar to those for previous quarters.

Scottish Hip Fracture Rehabilitation Report  

The Scottish Hip Fracture Audit Rehabilitation Report shows the results of a unique audit of the rehabilitation phase of care of elderly patients with hip fractures, particularly aspects highlighted by SIGN 56. The report presents information about the following: the pattern of assessments by medical or geriatric physicians; falls, nutritional, osteoporosis and cognition assessments; bone health medication; discharge and outcomes.

March 2007

Childhood immunisation uptake rates, quarter and year ending 31 December 2006

Quarterly and annual primary immunisation uptake rates for children aged 12 and 24 months and uptake rates for the pre-school booster and MMR at 5 and 6 years.  Includes data to 31 December 2006.

• At Scotland level, quarterly uptake rates at 12 months of age for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib and MenC remain above 95%.
• At Scotland Level, quarterly uptake rates at 24 months of age for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib and MenC have remained relatively stable at around 98%.
• Uptake of MMR at 24 months for children born in the 4th quarter of 2004 is 92.8%.  This is an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the previous quarter when the rate was 92.0% (children born 3rd quarter of 2004).

Practice Team Information (PTI) for 2003/04 - 2005/06

The latest data from Practice Team Information (PTI) are published. This release includes information on the types of diagnoses and symptoms seen and activities performed in General Practice.  This is sourced from data from GPs, practice nurses, district nurses and health visitors working in a sample of around 45 general practices in Scotland, from which estimates are obtained for Scotland. Data released previously for 2003/04 and 2004/05 are revised and 2005/06 data are presented for the first time.

National Drug Treatment Waiting Times Information Framework Report October-December 2006

Data on the number of clients seen and the length of time they waited to be seen for various drug treatment interventions. The interventions include:

• structured preparatory & motivation intervention
• prescribed drug treatment
• community support/rehabilitation
• residential detoxification/rehabilitation

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

NHS Workforce Statistics

The release includes information on the number of consultants employed in NHSScotland, showing that at 31st December 2006, NHSScotland employed 3,634.3 whole time equivalent consultants

Prescribing Statistics

Annual prescribing statistics showing the number and cost of prescriptions for medicines used to treat antibacterial infections, obesity, rheumatic diseases and gout and smoking cessation interventions in Scotland.

• Prescribing of antibiotics increased by 0.6% between 2005 and 2006
• Prescribing of drugs indicated for the treatment of obesity rose by 15.7% between 2004/05 and 2005/06, up from 77,685 to 89,870 prescribed items.
• The use of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs indicated for the treatment of arthritis and related conditions declined during 2005/06, falling from 2.85 million to 2.55 million items.
• Prescribing of smoking cessation products show seasonal variation, with sharp peaks around the months of January, February and March, with a decline after the March peak.  Nictotine Replace Therapy (NRT) is the most prevalent treatment.

Quarterley update of dispensing contractors remuneration

These schedules are aimed at those with an understanding of payments made to dispensing contractors.  The tables are intended to be used as reference listings detailing payments made to Scottish dispensing contractors of pharmaceuticals, up to December 2006.
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.

NHS Smoking Cessation Service Statistics (Scotland ) 1st January to 31st December 2006

This is the first release of statistics from the national monitoring of NHS smoking cessation services.  The report provides an analysis of service uptake and outcomes during the 2006 calendar year, the first year for which data was available for all NHS boards in Scotland.  Care should be taken, however, in making direct comparisons between boards.  Differences in the types of services provided and in the services being included in the national monitoring, under-recording of data and at 1/3 month follow-up variations in the proportion of cases lost to follow-up/smoking status unknown all contribute to wide 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.  Data is as at 1st March 2007.

Findings include:

February 2007

QOF Exception Reporting for 2005/06 

This publication presents, for the first time, exception reporting information for Scottish General Practices in 2005/06 under the Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF).
 
Exception reporting allows practices to pursue the quality improvement agenda and not be penalised, where, for example, patients do not attend for review, or where a medication cannot be prescribed due to a contraindication or side-effect.

Overall levels of exception reporting across Scotland varied considerably between indicators, ranging from less than 1% to over 27%.
Indicators with the lowest levels of exception reporting include those that involve recording information in the patient records (e.g. taking blood pressure, recording smoking status, or offering smoking cessation advice).
Indicators with the highest levels are seen in those that involve clinical treatments, influenza immunisation, or clinically measurable outcomes.

Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 31 December 2006 (quarterly and annual data) 

The latest quarterly report from ISD Scotland covering waiting times and waiting list numbers for NHS services in Scotland. Including:

Update of information covering outpatient appointments, inpatient and day case treatment, angiography and revascularisation, key diagnostic services and A&E.
Provisional summary information on activity.

Acute Activity

This release updates data on Inpatient, Daycase and Outpatient activity as well as providing information on the number of average available staffed beds, occupancy rates, length of stay and throughput for the period up to March 2006
Updated information on episodes, continuous stays in hospital and patients is presented by specialty and NHS Board of Treatment/Residence.

Patients Ready for Discharge in NHSScotland figures from January 2007 census

Figures from the latest quarterly census of patients who are ready for discharge from hospital show that 606 had been awaiting discharge for over six weeks at the January 2007 census. This is 22% less than the equivalent number (778) awaiting discharge at the same point last year and 11% less than the number (679) at the October 2006 census.

January 2007

Alcohol Statistics Scotland - 2007

A compendium of statistics on alcohol, derived from Health, Social Care, Criminal Justice, Customs & Excise and Survey data.
The publication is the second biennial compilation of available information on alcohol and problematic drinking.  Much of the information presented has been published previously. However, new information is included on alcohol related deaths and hospital episodes. This publication presents the latest available information from a range of national data sources relevant to alcohol consumption.  There are four main sections: a) The Alcohol market. b) Alcohol consumption c) Alcohol and health harm d) Alcohol and social harm

Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics

The total number of cervical smears processed in June 2006 to September 2006 was 98,745 with an average reporting time of 14 days. This is a decrease in smears of 5.3% compared with the previous quarter and a decrease of 3.3% on the same period in 2005 .
 
The percentage of unsatisfactory smears was 2.2% and the percentage of satisfactory smears reported as negative was 92.4%.   These figures are broadly similar to those for previous quarters.

Workforce Planning for Psychology Services in NHS Scotland: Characteristics of the Workforce Supply in 2006

This is the fifth in a series of reports concerned with workforce planning for psychology services in NHS Scotland.
The report presents data to describe the characteristics of the workforce engaged in the delivery of psychology services at 30th September 2006.
In total there were 489 Clinical Psychologists (435.34 wte) and 47 Other Applied Psychologists (41.63 wte) employed in NHS Scotland. This represents a national staffing level of 1wte Clinical Psychologist per 11, 703 of the general population of Scotland.

NHS Workforce Statistics

This release includes information on staff in post across all NHS staff groups to 30th September 2006 and includes:
* Consultant vacancies
* General, Community and Hospital Dentists
* Staff employed in the General Medical Service

Information on Scottish General Practices and their GPs

Figures on Scottish general practices and their GPs up to 30 September 2006. This includes information on:
* GP performers in post for Scotland and at NHS board and CHP level
* Patient populations registered with general practices in Scotland, also at NHS board and CHP level
* Practice characteristics, including deprivation and urban/rural measures
* Additional services provided by practices, at NHS board level

Figures show that there has been a steady increase in the number of GPs in post over the last 3 years, with an increase of 181 GPs (4.1% between 2004 and 2006. This growth can be explained in the main by an increase in the number of female GPs in post (an increase of 8.5% between 2004 and 2006, compared to 0.4% for males over the same period.
Between 2004 and 2006 there has been an increase in the number of GPs in the 25-29 age group. There is also an increase in the number of GP registrars.

December 2006

Childhood Obesity Statistics

Update of annual statistics on high and low body mass index (BMI) for Primary 1 school children in 8 participating NHS boards.  The current release includes data to school year 2005/06.
 
Using the 1990 UK growth reference standard, in 2005/06 21.8% of children in Primary 1 were overweight, including 9.1% who were obese and 4.4% severely obese. 
 
Figures for 2005/06 are broadly similar to 2004/05 (21.5% overweight, including 9.0% obese and 4.3% severely obese) and 2003/04 (21.8%, 9.0%, 4.6% respectively).  Levels of obesity have increased from 2000/01 (19.7%, 8.0%, 3.9% respectively).

Child Health Statistics: SNS (Support Needs System) Annual Summary Statistics 2006  
(Not a National Statistics Release)
 
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 NHS Board of assessment, as at August 2006. Statistics include :

number of children assessed on SNS.

• percentages of children on SNS with different disability types; Multiple and Complex Disabilities; certain key indicator conditions e.g. Cerebral Palsy.
• availability and uptake percentages for required services, as recorded on SNS.

Childhood Hospital Admissions & Mortality

• For children under the age of 15 years, the three most common main diagnoses for planned admissions in 2005/06 were: 'Disorders of teeth, tongue and mouth' (24.2%); 'Congenital anomalies' (10.0%) and 'Neoplastic disease' (9.4%).
• For children under the age of 15 years, the three most common diagnoses for emergency admissions in 2005/06 were : 'Respiratory disorders' (23.0%) e.g. Asthma; 'Symptoms and signs without a definitive diagnosis' (20.4%) e.g. convulsions, abdominal and pelvic pain; 'Injuries and poisonings' (18.4%).
• Although death in childhood is rare, mortality rates are highest amongst children under the age of one year, with a rate of 52.1 per 10,000 population in 2005; this represents approximately two thirds of all deaths in children under 15 years of age (284 out of 422).  Most of these deaths occur in the first few days after birth.

Childhood Immunisation Uptake Rates, Quarter Ending 30 September 2006
 
Quarterly update of primary immunisation uptake rates for children aged 12 and 24 months and uptake rates for the pre-school booster.  Includes data to 30 September 2006.

• At Scotland level, quarterly uptake rates at 12 months of age for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib and MenC remain above 95%.
• At Scotland Level, quarterly uptake rates at 24 months of age for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib and MenC have remained relatively stable at around 97%.
• Uptake of MMR at 24 months for children born in the 3rd quarter of 2004 is 92.0%.  This is an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous quarter when the rate was 91.9% (children born 2nd quarter of 2004).

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.  Data refers only to those medicines dispensed in the community, hospital dispensed medicines are not included.

• The prescribing of hypnotics, anxiolytics and barbiturates fell between 2004/05 and 2005/06 by 0.27%, down from 2.11m to 2.10m items.  Gross ingredient cost, however, rose by almost 19% due to price re-alignment in the anxiolytic sector.
• The rate of increase in the prescribing of medicines indicated for depression continues to decline, down from 2.2% to 1.4% between 2004/05 and 2005/06.  In total 3.53 m 'antidepressant' items were prescribed in 2005/06
• The volume of medicines indicated for psychoses and related disorders rose slightly between 2004/05 and 2005/06 up from 622,979 to 626,185 items; an increase of 0.51%
• Prescription for medicines used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increased by 15.6% to 49,258 prescribed items between 2004/05 and 2005/06.
• The number of prescriptions dispensed for medicines indicated for dementia continues to rise, up by 12.7%, to 73,363 items.in 2005/06

Quarterley Update to Monthly Dispensing Contractors Remuneration

The main content of the report is to show the monthly fees paid to dispensing contractors.  These include community pharmacists, dispensing doctors and appliance suppliers.

Patients Ready for Discharge in NHSScotland figures from October 2006 census

Figures from the latest quarterly census of patients who are ready for discharge from hospital show that 679 had been awaiting discharge for over six weeks at the October 2006 census. This is 22% less than the equivalent number (875) awaiting discharge at the same point last year but 8% higher than the number (627) at the July 2006 census.

Unintentional Injuries

 
This release updates data on:

• emergency hospital admissions as a result of an unintentional injury up to financial year ending 31 March 2006.
• deaths caused by unintentional injury up to year ending 31 December 2005.

New information on emergency hospital admissions and deaths as a result of an unintentional injury in the home is presented by age and sex and deprivation quintile.

National Drug Treatment Waiting Times Information Framework Report July-September 2006
(Not a National Statistics Release)
 
Data on the number of clients seen and the length of time they waited to be seen for various drug treatment interventions. The interventions include:

• structured preparatory & motivation intervention
• prescribed drug treatment
• community support/rehabilitation
• residential detoxification/rehabilitation

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

Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2006  

This publication is the latest annual compilation of available information on drug misuse.  Much of the information presented has been published previously. 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 misusers.
• Health impact of drug misuse.
• Drugs and criminal justice.

November 2006

• Scottish Health Service Costs, year ended 31st March 2006 (aka Costs Book)
• Notifiable Infectious Disease Statistics
• NHS Complaints
• Scottish Perinatal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity Report 2005
• Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 30 September 2006 (quarterly and annual data)
• Acute Activity
• Moving Forward: Sexually Transmitted Infections, including HIV, in Scotland 2005

October 2006

• Cervical Cytology Workload StatisticsCervical Cytology Workload Statistics
• Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics
• Mental Health of Children and Young People in Scotland: Characteristics of the Specialist CAMHS Workforce in 2005.
• National Drug Treatment Waiting Times

September 2006

• Older People Services: Measuring Relative Need 2006 (29th)
• AHPs Do Count. Developing clinical data to inform the service about the work of AHPs  (28th)
• Dental Statistics  (28th)
• NHSScotland Workforce Statistics  (28th)
• Prescribing Statistics  (28th)
• Quality Outcome Framework (QOF) - Primary Medical Services, 2005/06  (28th)
• Cancer mortality (2005) (15th)
• Local Alcohol profiles 2006(15th)
• Immunisation statistics Immunisation Statistics, quarter ending June 2006 (11th)
• Scottish Hip Fracture Report 2006 (1st)

August 2006

• Patients Ready for discharge in NHSScotland - figures from July 2006 census (31st)  
• Acute Hospital Care & Waiting Times, quarter ending June 2006; Accident & Emergency Waiting Times Survey 2006 (31st)
• Outpatient Waiting List Census to 30 June 2006 (31st)

July 2006

• Web based Clinical Outcome Indicators (31st)
• Births in Scottish Hospitals, year ending 31 March 2005 (27th)
• Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics, year ending March 2006 (27th)
• Scottish Breast Screening Programme Statistics up to 2004/05 (27th)
• Influenza Update, 2005/06 (27th)
• Waiting for AHP services* (6th)
• GUM clinic STI data for 2005 (supplementary tables)* (4th)

June 2006

• Ophthalmic Workload Statistics, year ending 31 March 2006 (30th)
• Workforce statistics (29th)
• QOF (29th)
• Dental Statistics and Workforce Dental Project (29th)
• Immunisation Statistics, quarter ending March 2006* (12th)
• Cancer Incidence (2003) (7th)
• Glossary added to ISD Scotland website (6th) 

May 2006

• Patients Ready for Discharge (Delayed Discharges) from NHS hospitals in Scotland - April 2006 census figures (31st)
• Acute activity and waiting times figures Jan - March 2006 (25th)
• Abortion Statistics 2005 (24th)
• Scottish Birth Record - Report on intial findings of data quality* (17th)
• Breastfeeding Statistics 2005 (15th)

April 2006

• Cervical Cytology Workload statistics for quarter ending December 2005* (27th)
• Coronary Heart Disease Statistics* (27th)
• Stroke Statistics* (27th)

March 2006

• NHSScotland Fireworks Injuries Enquiry 2005* (31st)
• Update to Monthly Dispensing Contractors remuneration to Dec 2005* (31st)
• Antibacterial(antibiotic) Prescribing in the commumity* (31st)
• NHS Scotland Workforce Statistics (23rd)
• Update of Childhood Immunisation Uptake Rates: up to 31st December 2005 (13th)

February 2006

• Patients Ready for Discharge (Delayed Discharges) from NHS hospitals in Scotland (28th)
• Scottish Local Authority Compendium of Health Statistics * (24th)
• Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Activity Data Development information quarterly statistical update (23rd)
• Mortality Data for Surgeons in Scotland (6th)

January 2006

• Workforce Statistics (26th)
• Workforce  in Psychology Services (26th)
• Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics (26th)
• Allied Health Professionals census report (26th)

December 2005

November 2005

• Patients Ready for discharge in NHSScotland - figures from October 2005 census (30th)
• Scottish Health Service Costs, year ending 31 March 2005 (30th)
• Notifiable infectious disease statistics for Scotland (annual update) (25th)
• Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 30 September 2005 (24th)
• Sexually Transmitted Infections including HIV in Scotland 2004 (24th)
• Practice Team Information (23rd)
• Scottish Perinatal and Infant Mortality & Morbidity Report 2004 (10th)

October 2005

• Coronary Heart Disease & Stroke Statistics for year ending 31st March 2005 (31st)
• Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics, quarter ending June 2005 (27th)

September 2005

• Older People Services Measuring Relative Need (formerly known as Scottish Health Resource Use Groups/Scottish Care Resource Utilisation Groups (SHRUGs/SCRUGs) Statistical Report), up to 31 March 2005.* (30th)
• Prescribing Statistics (30th)
• Patients Ready for discharge in NHSScotland - figures from July 2005 census (29th)
• Quality Outcome Framework (QOF) - Primary Medical Services, 2005/06 (29th)
• NHSScotland Workforce Statistics (15th)
• Immunisations Statistics, quarter ending June 2005 (12th)
• Cancer Incidence and Mortality (6th)

August 2005

• Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists, quarter ending June 2005 (25th)
• Accident & Emergency Waiting Times Survey 2005 (25th)

July 2005

• Scottish Breast Screening Programme Statistics, up to 2003/04 and Change in incidence in cervical cancer (up to 2002) (28th)
• Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics, quarter ending March 2005 (28th)
• Uptake of cervical screening year ending March 2005 (28th)
• Influenza Update, 2004/05 (28th)
• Dental Statistics (14th)
• NHSScotland Workforce Statistics (14th)
• Workforce Planning for Psychology Services in NHSScotland* Joint publication between NES and ISD (14th)

June 2005

• Ophthalmic Statistics, year ending 31 March 2005 (30th)
• Patients Ready for Discharge in NHSScotland - figures from April 2005 census (30th)
• Pescribing Statistics* (28th)
• Births in Scottish Hospitals, year ending 31 March 2004 (28th)
• Immunisation Statistics, quarter and year ending March 2005 (13th)
• The Scottish Arthroplasty Annual Report 2005 (3rd)

May 2005

• Quality Outcome Framework (QOF): Primary Medical Services, 2004/5 (27th)
• Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 31 March 2005 (quarterly and annual data) (26th)
• Abortions Statistics, 2004 (24th)
• Breastfeeding Statistics, year ending 31 December 2004 (9th)

April 2005

• Coronary Heart Disease & Stroke Statistics (29th)
• Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics, quarter ending December 2004* (28th)

March 2005

• Patients ready for discharge - figures from January 2005 census (31st)
• Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle & Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) 2004 National Report  (31st)
• Prescribing Statistics quarter ending 31 December 2004* (30th)
• Immunisation Statistics up to 31 December 2004 (14th)
• NHSScotland Fireworks Injuries Enquiry 2004* (10th)

February 2005

• National Alcohol Bulletin (28th)
• Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 31 December 2004 (24th)
• Notifiable infectious disease statistics for Scotland (annual figures)* (24th)
• NHSScotland Workforce Statistics to 30 September 2004 (10th)
• General Practice Statistics 2004* (10th)
• Births in Scotland publication series volume 5 - NHS Board Variations in maternity care and outcomes (3rd)

January 2005

• Cervical cytology workload Statistics, quarter ending 30 Sept 2004* (27th)
• Patients ready for discharge in NHSScotland - figures from Oct 2004 census (18th)

December 2004

• Drugs Misuse Statistics Scotland, 2004  (16th)
• Prescribing Statistics* (16th)
• Immunisation Statistics up to 30 Sept 2004* (13th)

November 2004

• Cancer Incidence, up to 2001 (update of previously released statistics) and cancer mortality (up to 2003; new) statistics (26th)
• Acute Activity, Waiting Times & Waiting Lists to 30 Sept 2004 (25th)
• Practice Team Information year ending March 2004 (25th)
• Genitourinary Medicine Statistics year ending March 2002 (23rd)
• Alcohol Related Death Statistics & Alcohol Related Hospital Discharge data  (17th)
• Scottish Perinatal & Infant Mortality & Morbidity Report 2003 (11th)

October 2004

• Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics, quarter ending June 2004* (29th)
• Coronary Heart Disease & Stroke Statistics (29th)
• Dental Statistics (29th)
• Scottish Health Service Costs, year ending 31 March 2004* (28th)
• Workforce Statistics to 31st March 2004 Occupational Health and Safety Minimum Dataset (28th)
• SALSUS 2004 Survey ; National Interim Report (28th)
• Complaints Statistics, year ending March 2004 (26th)
• Childhood Hospital Admissions and Mortality year ending 31 March 2003* (11th)
• Unintentional Injuries in year ending 31 March 2003 * (11th)

September 2004

• Patients ready for discharge in NHSScotland - figures from July 2004 census  (30 Sep)
• Older People Services: Measuring Relative Need - Statistical Report 2004*(30 Sep)
• Statistics on new individuals attending drug treatment services : 2003/4 (29 Sep)
• Prescribing Statistics (29 Sep)
• Workforce Planning for Psychology Services in NHS Scotland: Characteristics of the Workforce Supply 2003^* (28 Sep)
• Immunisation Statistics to 30 June 2004^* (13 Sep)

August 2004

• Cancer Survival Statistics - patients diagnosed to 2001 (30 Aug)
• Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Activity Data Development information quarterly statistical update (26 Aug)
• Doctors in Training: Compliance with New Deal (25 Aug)
• Scottish Local Authority Compendium of Statistics 2002/2003 (SLACHS) (24 Aug)
• NHSScotland Workforce Statistics at 31st March 2004 Staff in post in non-medical staff groups; vacancies for nurses & midwives and allied health professionals; use of bank and agency nursing and midwifery staff (12 Aug) 

July 2004

• Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics and Screening Uptake Rates to March 2004 (30 Jul)

June 2004

• Local Alcohol Profiles released (30 Jun)
• Prescribing Statistics, quarter ending March 2004* (30 Jun)
• Patients Ready for discharge in NHSScotland - figures from April 2004 census (30 Jun)
• Workforce Planning for Dentistry in Scotland (29 Jun)
• Clinical Nurse Specialists " Results from pilot data collection* (28 Jun)
• Ophthalmic Workload Statistics, year ending 31 March 2004 (22 Jun)
• New Corporate Identity announced - NHS National Services  (16 Jun)
• Immunisation Statistics, quarter and year ending March 2004 (14 Jun)
• Cancer Incidence, Prevalance & Lifetime Risk 2001 (11 Jun)
• Dental Statistics 2003/4 (3 Jun)

May 2004

• NHSScotland - Influenza Update, 2003/04* (27 May)
• NHSScotland Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 31 March 2004 (quarterly and annual data) (27 May)
• Abortion Statistics, 2003 (26 May)
• NHSScotland Occupational Health and Safety Minimum Dataset (OHSMDS) Pilot Data 2000/01 to 2002/03 (26 May)
• NHSScotland Breastfeeding Statistics - year ending 31 December 2003 (10 May)

April 2004

• NHSScotland Coronary Heart Disease & Stroke Statistics (30 Apr )
• NHSScotland Women & Children's Health (incl. sexual health) Statistics - Births in Scottish Hospitals, year ending 31 March 2003 (29 Apr)
• NHSScotland Scottish Breast Screening Programme Statistics up to 2002/03 (27 Apr)
• NHSScotland Scottish Cervical Screening Programme (% change in incidence of cervical cancer, up to 2000)* (27 Apr)
• NHSScotland Scottish Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics, quarter ending December 2003* (27 Apr)

March 2004

• Patients Ready for Discharge in NHS Scotland - figures from January 2004 Census (30 Mar)
• NHSScotland Prescribing Information quarter ending 31 December 2003* (30 Mar)
• National Amputee Statistical Database for the UK Annual Report 2002/2003* (26 Mar)
• NHSScotland Fireworks Injuries Enquiry 2003 (25 Mar)
• NHSScotland Immunisation Statistics, quarter and year ending December 2003 (15 Mar)
• Healthy Life Expectancy in Scotland (12 Mar)
• NHS Scotland launch a new dedicated website for alcohol information in Scotland   (4 Mar)  

February 2004

• Women & Childrens' Health (incl Sexual Health) - Genitourinary Medicine Statistics year ending March 2001* (27 Feb)
• NHSScotland Acute Activity, Waiting Times and Waiting Lists to 31 December 2003, and selected data developments information (26 Feb)
• NHSScotland Workforce Statistics (All Staff Employed by Staff Group, Medical & Dental Staff, GMPs/GDPs, Nursing & Midwifery Staff Employed - Hospitals, General Practice, Allied Health Professionals, Ethnic Origin,  Junior Doctors Hours - Compliance with New Deal), to 30 September / 1 October 2003 (25 Feb)
• NHS General Practice Statistics 2003 (25 Feb)  

January 2004

• NHS Complaints Statistics 2002-03(29 Jan)
• NHSScotland Cervical Cytology Workload Statistics, Quarter ending 30 September 2003 (29 Jan)
• Childhood cancer in Scotland - trends in incidence, mortality, and survival 1975-1999 (22 Jan)
• Patients Ready for Discharge in NHSScotland - figures from October 2003 census (16 Jan)