Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (quarterly)
Quarter ending 30 September 2021
A National Statistics publication for Scotland
- Published
- 22 February 2022
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
Data files
This publication contains the following data files for a rolling five-year trend, broken down into quarters. Please note, only acute hospitals are included in the data files. Only acute specialties are included in the inpatient and day case files. For further information please see the methods section.
Outpatient Activity
Data on outpatient appointments is for consultant-led activity only. These data files are split by location (NHS board of treatment/residence, hospital and council area), specialty, age and sex, and SIMD for new and Did Not Attend (DNA) appointments; and split by specialty and NHS board of treatment for return and total appointments.
Outpatients by NHS Board of residence to September 2021
Outpatients by NHS Board of treatment to September 2021
Outpatients Cross boundary flow to September 2021
See outpatient activity variables
The residence data files relate to activity by NHS Board of residence. The treatment data files relate to activity by NHS Board of treatment. Outpatient residence files only contain data for new outpatients as the ISD(S)1 data source for return outpatients does not contain residence information. ISD(S)1 also does not record information on the age or sex of patients, nor the deprivation of the area in which they live.
Inpatient and Day Case Activity
These data files are split by location (NHS Board of treatment/residence, hospital and council area), age and sex, and SIMD for both episodes and stays. Specialty breakdowns are split by episodes and spells, rather than stays. For more information, please see the methodology section. Measures include emergency admissions, elective admissions, inpatients, day cases, total inpatients and day cases, transfers, and not specified.
Inpatient and day cases by NHS board of residence to September 2021
Inpatient and day cases by NHS board of treatment to September 2021
Inpatient and day case cross boundary flow to September 2021
See inpatient and day case activity variables
The residence data files relate to activity by NHS Board of residence. The treatment data files relate to activity by NHS Board of treatment.
Hospital Beds to September 2021
The ISD(S)1 data source for beds does not contain residence information. ISD(S)1 also does not record information on the age or sex of patients, nor the deprivation of the area in which they live. For further information please see the methods section.
Due to the way specialties are recorded for beds data, it is not possible to use the PHS Beds statistics to estimate the total number of beds which are available for use for different services and/or departments. For example, selecting the paediatric specialty grouping will only provide a partial picture of the staffed beds that are used for children’s services. This is because many beds used for children are not recorded under paediatric specialties and are instead recorded under more specific specialties, e.g. Haematology, Neurology, and Respiratory Medicine. Furthermore, the specialty recorded for a bed depends partly on what the patient is being treated for, so for some wards the mix of specialties may change over time. Similarly, analysis of the Accident & Emergency specialty bed usage will only provide inpatient and day case information on beds within the Accident & Emergency specialty e.g. Accident & Emergency ward beds and observation beds staffed overnight. It will not provide information on the services/capacity within Accident & Emergency departments as a whole.
File variables
| Variable name | Definition | Format | Missing value |
|---|---|---|---|
| quarter_date | Final date of the quarter | Date (dd/mm/yy) | NA |
| quarter_name | Quarter period in text format | Text (mmm – mmm-yy) | NA |
| hb_code | NHS Board code: Either the 9 digit NHS Board code or "scot" for Scotland. For the residence data files, the NHS Board code and name is in relation to the NHS Board of residence. For the treatment data files, the NHS Board code and name is in relation to the NHS Board of treatment. | Text | NA |
| hb_name | NHS Board name | Text | NA |
| loc_code | Location code: Either the 5 digit hospital code; 9 digit NHS Board or council code; or “scot” for Scotland | Text | NA |
| loc_name | Location name | Text | NA |
| specialty | 2 digit specialty code | Text | NA |
| spec_name | Specialty name | Text | NA |
| sex_age | Sex (Male or Female) and 10 year age bands combined | Text | NA |
| simd | Quintiles of Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (1 - most deprived, 5 - least deprived) | Number | NA |
| hbtreat_currentdate | NHS Board of treatment code | Text | NA |
| hbtreat_name | NHS Board of treatment name | Text | NA |
| hbres_currentdate | NHS Board of residence code | Text | NA |
| hbres_name | NHS Board of residence name | Text | NA |
| attendances | Number of attendances | Number | NA |
| boundary_ind | Indicates whether the NHS Board of treatment is the same as the NHS Board of residence (0 - no, 1 - yes) | Number | NA |
|
Variable name
|
Definition
|
Format
|
Missing value
|
|---|---|---|---|
| appt_type | Outpatient appointment type: New, Return, All Appointments (total of 'New' + 'Return') or DNA | Text | NA |
| count | Number of appointments | Number | NA |
| rate | Only available for DNAs, i.e. DNA rate. DNA rates are calculated from new appointments only and are presented as a percentage of the total number of outpatient appointments | Number | NA |
|
Variable name
|
Definition
|
Format
|
Missing value
|
|---|---|---|---|
| measure | Inpatient/admissions type: Elective Inpatients; Emergency Inpatients; Transfers; Not Specified; All Day cases; All Inpatients; All Inpatients and Day cases | Text | NA |
| eps | Number of episodes | Number |
NA |
| spells | Number of specialty spells | Number |
NA |
| stays | Number of stays | Number | NA |
| los | Total length of stay/spell | Number | NA |
| avlos | Average length of stay/spell | Number | NA |
| Variable name | Definition | Format | Missing value |
|---|---|---|---|
| aasb | Quarterly available staffed bed days i.e. number of available staffed bed days over the quarter | Number | NA |
| tobd | Quarterly occupied bed days i.e. total number of occupied bed days over the quarter | Number | NA |
| asb | Daily Average available staffed beds i.e. average number of available staffed beds per day | Number | NA |
| aob | Daily Average occupied beds i.e. average number of occupied beds per day | Number | NA |
| p_occ | Percentage (%) occupancy | Number | NA |