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Primary Care Out Of Hours

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS), provides a monthly update of key statistics on Primary Care Out Of Hours (PC OOH) Services across Scotland. The information includes trends in the number of PC OOH cases and consultations in the out of hours period. The out of hours period is defined as 6pm – 8am weekdays and weekends/public holidays. It includes information on the type of consultation, e.g. home visit, telephone advice and Primary Care Emergency Centre (PCEC). It also includes information on the number of A&E attendances (unplanned plus new planned) in the out of hours period. Further information on PC OOH services across Scotland can be found here.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Source PHS PC OOH Datamart
Author PHS Unscheduled Care Team
Last Updated April 1, 2025, 11:51 (BST)
Created November 4, 2024, 11:40 (GMT)
Contact Address Unscheduled Care Team, Public Health Scotland, Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9EB
Subject Monthly Primary Care Out of Hours Activity
Frequency Monthly
Time frame of data and timeliness Activity data is on the first Tuesday of the month, covering the month two months prior to publication (for example, March publication contains the data for January).
Coverage Covers Primary Care Out of Hours activity since April 2014.
Completeness Ongoing monitoring of the quality of data covers the completeness, timeliness and accuracy of data recorded. PHS are not responsible for training issues affecting completion and understanding of ADASTRA. PHS do however monitor data quality, contacting health boards as required. During the period March 2020 to March 2022, three NHS boards did not submit COVID Assessment Activity: -NHS Forth Valley -NHS Grampian -NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (from September 2021 onwards only)
Accuracy For April 2014 to March 2015 data national submissions were made through GP OOH Interim data files, with only very limited validation to ensure correct coding had been used. Since the introduction of the GP OOH Datamart in April 2015, the data now undergoes full validation which ensures that the data is in the correct format and only contains accepted codes. Refer to OOH dataset document (https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/24433/2023-12-primary-care-out-of-hours-data-set.pdf) which provides a list of accepted format. If the submission file does not meet all of the validation rules, then the whole file is rejected. The resulting errors are reported back to AHC where they must be amended and the file resubmitted. Once the file passes validation it is loaded into the datamart where it is then available for analysis and reporting. PHS works closely with colleagues in the NHS boards to improve the validation and accuracy of the data and to ensure that the appropriate data standards are understood and applied by all health boards.
Continuity of data Trend data showing number of consultations is robust at a national level. Standardisation work was introduced in June 2022 to help better identify how 'cases' are measured and this will impact on trend analysis of cases for some NHS boards.
Concepts and definitions Further information on data contained can be found in the OOH dataset document (https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/24433/2023-12-primary-care-out-of-hours-data-set.pdf)
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 Amendments are usually minor, affecting a small number of records for individual sites or areas. Any major or significant changes are handled as formal revisions as outlined in PHS Statistical Revisions Policy. (https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/public-health-scotland-statistical-revisions-guidance/public-health-scotland-statistical-revisions-guidance-version-3/) If NHS boards discover that data submitted for publication is incorrect, or that data are missing, further re-submissions can be made up until the publication submission deadline date. Any revised figures will be highlighted within notes on the affected tables. Figures contained within each publication may also be subject to change in future releases as submissions may be updated to reflect a more accurate and complete set of data.
Official statistics designation The monthly and annual data release is designated as official statistics.
Relevance and key uses of the statistics The following uses of the data have been identified: -information available to OOH to support local delivery of their services -information to support monitoring of Health Improvement Scotland Quality Indicators for Primary Care Out of Hours Services (https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/) -enhance information on patient journeys through unscheduled care services (i.e. include data from OOH primary care services) -more comprehensive information on patient outcomes following their unscheduled care journey. Other uses of the data include information requests, freedom of information requests, information support to boards and parliamentary questions.
Format CSV
Language English
Links

Further information about this data can be found here