Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme (SCAP)

About this release

The Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme (SCAP) was set up to improve care and outcomes for cardiac patients through the collection and use of data on the treatments they receive. This is the fourth annual report that summarises the statistics generated from these data. It covers the following audit areas: adult Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI), congenital heart disease, cardiac device and ablation (cardiac rhythm management), other transcatheter Structural Heart Intervention (SHI) procedures, Adult Cardiac Surgery (ACS), and cardiology waiting times. 

This year, we have expanded our report to include statistics on cardiac radiology, heart failure, myocardial infarction/angina, and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICC) is an audit area currently in development, and we have produced charts showing the number and proportion of gene-positive proband patients by health board of residence.

Since 2024, the National Heart Disease Statistics publication, traditionally produced annually by PHS and sourced from national datasets, has been amalgamated into the SCAP report. This integration is designed to reduce data discrepancies and minimise confusion, which can arise because different data sources are often used to report the same indicators, while also supporting the development of the national myocardial infarction/angina audit and contributing to the national heart failure audit.

Main points

SCAP have analysed data for the period of 2024/25 to support 11 areas of audits.

Chart showing the number of procedures within the audit going from PCI at 9135, Devices 4289, Adult Cardiac Surgery 2298, Ablation 1444, TAVI, 906, Congenital 638 and other structural heart intervention 131

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Number of cardiac procedures included within SCAP audit areas

Heart Disease statistics:

• The incidence of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) in Scotland has reached its lowest level since 2015/16, with rates in 2024/25 sitting at 312.5 per 100,000 population.

PCI:

• In 2024/25 there were 9,135 PCI procedures undertaken in Scotland.
• 4 out of 6 PCI centres are still not meeting the target for Non ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI) patients, which requires a PCI to be performed within 72 hours of the patient’s initial hospital admission. This year, we have provided more granular data, including timings from admission at the referring hospital to referral at the PCI-performing centre, to help understand potential delays along the full pathway.
• PCI in Scotland is associated with good outcomes with no centres in Scotland identified as negative outliers in relation to mortality or major morbidities such as stroke.

TAVI:

• In 2024/25 there were 906 TAVI procedures undertaken in Scotland.
• The TAVI rate per million population (PMP) in Scotland for 2024/25 has risen to 165.0 procedures PMP from 121.1 procedures PMP in 2023/24.
• Complication and mortality rates associated with TAVI remain very low.

Adult Cardiac Surgery:

• In 2024/25 there were 2,298 adult cardiac surgery procedures undertaken in Scotland.
• Complication rates associated with Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) and Surgical.

Aortic Valve replacement (SAVR) remains within normal limits across Scotland.

Congenital heart disease:

• In 2024/25 there were 638 congenital heart disease procedures undertaken in Scotland.
• In 2024/25 there was an increase in mortality associated with both adult and child surgical procedures.
• This is the first year that SCAP have linked data to the Congenital Conditions and Rare Diseases Registry and Information Service for Scotland (CARDRISS) to help understand the total denominator of patients diagnosed with congenital heart disease in Scotland.

Cardiac Rhythm Management (Devices/Ablation):

• In 2024/25 there were 4,289 cardiac device procedures and 1,440 ablation procedures undertaken in Scotland.

Structural heart Interventions:

• In 2024/25 there were 131 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.

Waiting times:

• SCAP have included published data from national waiting times publications. This is to support our ambition to keep cardiac data centralised for those with an interest in cardiology data.   

New areas of Audit for 2025:

• Heart failure: This is the first time SCAP has reported on heart failure diagnosis data, marking a pivotal development in our national effort to understand and improve understanding and improving heart failure care in Scotland.
• Myocardial infarction/angina: This is the first year SCAP has reported on myocardial infarction (MI) and angina data. Using the heart disease SMR01 sourced data to develop a new area of audit. The development of this audit will be an iterative process that develops over future years.
• Out of hospital cardiac arrest: This is the first time SCAP have reported data on this area of audit. SCAP have linked their procedure data with data from the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) to help understand pathways for this cohort of patients.

Background

The 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.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be November 2026.