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Annual NHS beds information in Scotland

In order to provide an effective, safe and efficient service to patients, hospitals must balance the provision of staffed beds against anticipated demand. Historically, the total number of beds has been reducing in line with evolving models of healthcare provision which aim to reduce the frequency and duration of hospital admissions and improve the integration of health and social care services. This strategy aims to improve outcomes for patients and reduce the likelihood of future hospital admissions.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Source NHS Beds information is sourced from aggregate data returns (ISD(S)1)
Author PHS Secondary Care Team
Maintainer PHS Open Data team
Last Updated October 2, 2025, 13:10 (BST)
Created September 24, 2020, 13:57 (BST)
Contact Address Public Health Scotland, Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 9EB
Subject Hospital Care
Frequency Annually
Time frame of data and timeliness 10-year trends for data up to and including 31 March of the publication year
Coverage Covers all NHS Boards in Scotland
Completeness PHS do not produce completeness levels for ISD(S)1, however, the Data Management team query any unusual numbers with NHS Boards.
Accuracy Please refer to Appendices A2 and A3 of the report. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-annual/
Continuity of data Please refer to Appendices A2 and A3 of the report. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-annual/
Concepts and definitions Please see the Glossary section within the report and the excel data tables which accompany this publication. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-annual/ Further details are also available on the Health and Social Care Data Dictionary: https://publichealthscotland.scot/resources-and-tools/health-intelligence-and-data-management/national-data-catalogue/data-dictionary/search-the-data-dictionary/. For detailed information on the data sources and clinical coding used within Hospital Care analysis please refer to the SMR Datasets, ISD(S)1 data collection and Terminology Services web pages: https://publichealthscotland.scot/services/national-data-catalogue/smr-data-manual/information-and-resources/smr-data-submissions/ https://publichealthscotland.scot/services/data-management/data-management-in-secondary-care-hospital-activity/isd-s-1-hospital-activity/what-is-isd-s-1/ https://publichealthscotland.scot/services/terminology-services-and-clinical-coding/
Disclosure The PHS Statistical Disclosure Protocol is followed. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/public-health-scotland-statistical-disclosure-protocol/public-health-scotland-statistical-disclosure-protocol-version-22/
Revision statement All revisions to data within this release are planned and are due to incomplete data returns at the time of publication. In general, these revisions have minimal effect on the statistics. If data providers discover that data submitted for publication are incorrect and/or missing or incomplete and is significant, this can be re-submitted and published in subsequent releases. Any changes will be highlighted within the publication release. Please see the PHS revisions policy for further details. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/public-health-scotland-statistical-revisions-guidance/public-health-scotland-statistical-revisions-guidance-version-3/
Official statistics designation Accredited official statistics. These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in November 2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘Accredited official statistics'. For more information, please refer to Appendix A3 of the report: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-annual/
Relevance and key uses of the statistics To compare areas and activity across Scotland and view trends over time. To allow NHS Board employees to compare activity levels nationally, e.g. NHS clinical consultants interested in their specialty figures by NHS Board, NHS information managers planning capacity, to assist in the development of Service Agreements between NHS Boards. To investigate the implications of common systemic diseases in Scotland as a basis for assessing health demands in the future. To assess whether patients were treated within or outwith their own NHS Board. To allow members of the public to readily access information on the number of hospital admissions for specific diagnoses or procedures that may be of personal interest to them. To assist students and universities conducting medical studies for research purposes. Private companies interested in hospital activity levels in Scotland such as pharmaceutical companies, consultancy companies employed by NHS Trusts in England, advertising/media companies on behalf of clients. To provide statistical information for political campaigns, e.g. to halt reductions in acute NHS beds.
Format CSV
Language English
Links

[Annual Publication] (https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-annual/) NHS England Outcomes and Performance, Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) NHS Wales Statistics and Research Northern Ireland Hospital Statistics