Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme (SCAP)

About this release

Public Health Scotland (PHS) has released its third Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme (SCAP) report covering the following cardiac audit areas: adult percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), other transcatheter structural heart procedures, adult cardiac surgery (ACS), cardiac rhythm management, congenital heart disease, and cardiology waiting times.

The National Heart Disease Statistics publication, traditionally produced annually by PHS and sourced from national datasets, has undergone a significant change. To enhance the accuracy and clarity of our reporting, we have amalgamated this publication within the SCAP report. This integration aims to reduce conflicting data and eliminate confusion. 

We welcome feedback on this integration via the contact details below.

Main points

SCAP have received data submissions up to 2023/24 for the 7 cardiac audit areas.

A graph showing a number of procedures undertaken in SCAP. 9422 PCI, 2299 adult cardiac surgery, 723 congenital heart disease, 640 TAVI procedures, 4055 devices, 1422 ablation and 114 other reportable transcatheter structural heart disease interventions.

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Number of cardiac procedures included within SCAP

PCI summary:

• In 2023/24 there were 9,422 PCI procedures undertaken in Scotland.
• 3 out of 6 PCI centres are still not meeting the target for NSTEMI patients, which requires performing a PCI within 72 hours of the patient’s initial hospital admission. This year, we provided more detailed data, revealing that most patients in this group receive their PCI between 3 to 7 days after admission
• In 2023/24, 71% of patients presenting directly to a PCI centre managed to have their PCI within the target time of 150 minutes from their initial call for help, compared to only 47% of those who present initially to a non PCI centre.
• In 2023/24, 83% of patients had their PCI within the target time of 60 minutes from when they arrived at the PCI hospital.

Adult Cardiac Surgery summary:

• In 2023/24 there were 2,366 adult cardiac surgery procedures undertaken in Scotland.
• Complication rates associated with Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) are all within normal limits in Scotland.
• The majority of adult cardiac surgery being performed in Scotland is for elective patients.

TAVI summary:

• In 2023/24 there were 640 TAVI procedures undertaken in Scotland.
• The TAVI rate per million population (PMP) in Scotland for 2023/24 has risen to 117 procedures PMP from 106 procedures PMP in 2022/23.
• Complication and mortality rates associated with TAVI remain very low.

Congenital Heart Disease summary:

• In 2023/24 there were 723 congenital heart disease procedures undertaken in Scotland.

Cardiac rhythm management summary:

• In 2023/24 there were 4,055 cardiac devices procedures and 1,422 ablation procedures undertaken in Scotland.
• This is the first time SCAP have reported data on this audit area.

Structural heart disease intervention summary:

• In 2023/24 there were 114 procedures (total end to end repair, patent foramen ovale closure and left atrial appendage occlusion) performed in Scotland using a transcatheter approach to treat a structural heart condition.

Heart disease statistics summary:                

• The rate at which new cases of coronary heart disease occur (the incidence) has fallen by 12% over the last
• 6,897 deaths in Scotland where coronary heart disease (CHD) was the underlying cause. There has been a reduction in the death rate from coronary heart disease over the last ten years.

Chart showing trend in standardised death rates for coronory heart disease from 2014 onwards

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Coronary heart disease – age and sex adjusted death rates per 100,000 population, Scotland, 2014/15 onwards

• The rate of hospital discharges of patients with a heart attack has decreased by 20% in the past 10 years.
• In 2023/24, 94% of people survived 30 days or more following their first heart attack, which is largely unchanged over the past decade.

Background

Scotland has a high prevalence of the risk factors associated with CHD, such as smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity. Despite a substantial reduction in the rate of death from coronary heart disease (CHD) over the last decade, it remains one of the leading causes of death in Scotland (Health of Scotland’s population - Mortality Rates). Overall, it is estimated that around 7% of men and 4% of women are living with CHD (Scottish Health Survey 2021).

Scottish Government commissioned PHS to establish the development of the Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme (SCAP) from 1st April 2021. This is to help and support the delivery of Priority 4 of the Heart Disease Action Plan 2021. It states: Effective use of data: We will ensure that high-quality, standardised data is available and used effectively to support clinical decision-making, understand patient outcomes and enable better service-planning.

The SCAP report benchmarks this data against publicly available NICOR reports. This year marks the first inclusion of cardiac rhythm management data within the SCAP report, following previous data quality issues with submissions to NICOR.

Additionally, SCAP has expanded its audit scope to include new cardiology areas in Scotland and has introduced high-level figures for certain transcatheter structural heart disease interventions. This year’s report also consolidates other cardiology data released by PHS. Looking forward, SCAP is collaborating with clinicians, service planners, and individuals with lived experience to co-design the audit’s future, with a focus on waiting times and chronic cardiac conditions.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be October 2025.