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Beds Information in Scotland

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.

All publications and supporting material to this topic area can be found on the Public Health Scotland website (external website).

Further information on hospital activity can be found in the recent quarterly publication (external website).

The date of the next release can be found on our list of forthcoming publications (external website).

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Source Beds information is sourced from aggregate data returns (ISD(S)1)
Author Secondary Care Team
Version 1.0
Last Updated June 2, 2022, 10:55 (BST)
Created November 7, 2019, 11:04 (GMT)
Contact Address Public Health Scotland, Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9EB
Subject Hospital Care
Frequency Quarterly
Time frame of data and timeliness Data from the quarter ending 31 December 2016 to the quarter ending 31 December 2021.
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. Note that estimates may be applied by PHS to missing data in the ISD(S)1 dataset used for beds and return outpatient figures.
Accuracy https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/inpatient-and-daycase-activity/resource/a15a1878-3203-4506-90ac-586bd672545d
Continuity of data There are known issues with the quality of data presented. For more information, please see the continuity and accuracy of data section of the official data release information. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-quarterly/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-quarterly-quarter-ending-31-december-2021/official-data-release-information/
Concepts and definitions https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/Beds/ https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-quarterly/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-quarterly-quarter-ending-31-december-2021/glossary/ https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-quarterly/acute-hospital-activity-and-nhs-beds-information-quarterly-quarter-ending-31-december-2021/methods-used-to-produce-this-data-release/ Further details are also available on the Health and Social Care Data Dictionary: https://www.ndc.scot.nhs.uk/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://www.isdscotland.org/Products-and-Services/Terminology-Services/.
Disclosure The PHS protocol on Statistical Disclosure Protocol is followed. https://beta.isdscotland.org/media/4191/public-health-scotland-statistical-disclosure-control-protocol.pdf
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 is 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 notes on the affected table. Please see the PHS revisions policy for further details. https://beta.isdscotland.org/media/4106/isd-revisions-policy-v04.pdf
Official statistics designation The UK Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, available on the UK Statistics Authority website. http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice
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.
Format CSV
Language English
Links

Quarterly Publication

NHS England Outcomes and Performance, Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)

NHS Wales Hospital Activity - NHS Beds

Northern Ireland Hospital Statistics and Research
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