Drug-Related Hospital Statistics Scotland

Drug-related hospital statistics (DRHS) provide an annual update to figures on the drug-related inpatient and day case activity taking place within general acute hospitals in Scotland. All publications and supporting material to this topic area can be found on PHS - Substance use.

The date of the next release can be found on our list of [forthcoming publications] (https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/forthcoming-publications/).

Data and Resources

DRHS By Health BoardCSV
Information on drug related hospital stays at health board level.
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DRHS By Council AreaCSV
Information on drug related hospital stays at council area level.
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Additional Info

Field	Value
Source	SMR01 (Scottish Morbidity Records 01) is the source for general acute inpatient and day case hospital activity.
Author	PHS Drugs Team
Version	1.0
Last Updated	April 15, 2025, 09:43 (BST)
Created	February 28, 2020, 11:02 (GMT)
Contact Address	PHS Drugs Team, Public Health Scotland, Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 9EB
Subject	Substance use
Frequency	Annual
Time frame of data and timeliness	Two month in arrears
Coverage	General Acute hospitals in Scotland from 1996/97 to 2023/24 (data are also broken down at NHS board and council area levels).
Completeness	Details of data submission issues are available on the SMR completeness webpage (see link 3 below)
Accuracy	Quality checks are conducted by PHS. Figures are compared to previously published data and expected trends.
Continuity of data	Before 1996/97, diagnosis coding within SMR01 and SMR04 records was based on International Classification of Diseases 9th Revision (ICD9). PHS introduced International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10) coding into SMR from 1996 onwards. This means that all data presented are continous with ICD10 coding.
Concepts and definitions	Definitions of a drug-related hospital stay (including ICD10 codes used) can be found on the methods section of the latest DRHS publication (see link 1 below).
Disclosure	Statistical disclosure control has been applied. For more information, please refer to the PHS Statistical Disclosure Control Protocol (See link 4 below)
Revision statement	All data are revised annually to reflect any changes to analysis and to ensure the most complete information is presented. Data for the most recent financial year are provisional and may be subject to change in forthcoming releases. Minor revisions of this nature are often due to incomplete data returns at the time of previous publication.
Official statistics designation	National Statistics
Relevance and key uses of the statistics	Relevant to understanding substance use in Scotland. Statistics will be used for policy making, service planning, research. They are also of wider public interest.
Format	csv
Language	English
Links	[1) DRHS publication 2025] (https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/drug-related-hospital-statistics/drug-related-hospital-statistics-scotland-2023-to-2024/summary/) [2) Substance Use] (https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/lifestyle-and-behaviours/substance-use/) [3) SMR completeness webpage] (https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/scottish-morbidity-record-completeness) [4) PHS Statistical Disclosure Control Protocol] (https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/statistical-disclosure-protocol/statistical-disclosure-protocol/)