This open data publication has moved to COVID-19 Statistical Data in Scotland (from 02/11/2022) Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China. Clinical presentation may range from mild-to-moderate illness to pneumonia or severe acute respiratory infection. This dataset provides information on demographic characteristics (age, sex, deprivation) of confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, as well as trend data regarding the wider impact of the virus on the healthcare system. Data includes information on primary care out of hours consultations, respiratory calls made to NHS24, contact with COVID-19 Hubs and Assessment Centres, incidents received by Scottish Ambulance Services (SAS), as well as COVID-19 related hospital admissions and admissions to ICU (Intensive Care Unit). Further data on the wider impact of the COVID-19 response, focusing on hospital admissions, unscheduled care and volume of calls to NHS24, is available on the COVID-19 Wider Impact Dashboard. There is a large amount of data being regularly published regarding COVID-19 (for example, Coronavirus in Scotland - Scottish Government and Deaths involving coronavirus in Scotland - National Records of Scotland. Additional data sources relating to this topic area are provided in the Links section of the Metadata below. Information on COVID-19, including stay at home advice for people who are self-isolating and their households, can be found on NHS Inform. All publications and supporting material to this topic area can be found in the weekly COVID-19 Statistical Report. The date of the next release can be found on our list of forthcoming publications. Data visualisation is available to view in the interactive dashboard accompanying the COVID-19 Statistical Report. Please note information on COVID-19 in children and young people of educational age, education staff and educational settings is presented in a new COVID-19 Education Surveillance dataset going forward.

The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) series was established in 1995. Commissioned by the Scottish Government Health Directorates, the series provides regular information on aspects of the public's health and factors related to health which cannot be obtained from other sources. The SHeS series was designed to:

• estimate the prevalence of particular health conditions in Scotland;
• estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these health conditions and to document the pattern of related health behaviours;
• look at differences between regions and between subgroups of the population in the extent of their having these particular health conditions or risk factors, and to make comparisons with other national statistics for Scotland and England;
• monitor trends in the population's health over time;
• make a major contribution to monitoring progress towards health targets.

Each survey in the series includes a set of core questions and measurements (height and weight and, if applicable, blood pressure, waist circumference, urine and saliva samples), plus modules of questions on specific health conditions that vary from year to year. Each year the core sample has also been augmented by an additional boosted sample for children. Since 2008 NHS Health Boards have also had the opportunity to boost the number of adult interviews carried out in their area.

The Scottish Government Scottish Health Survey webpages contain further information about the series, including latest news and publications.

Latest edition information

For the second edition (April 2023), three 'Intake24' data files have been added to the study, covering foods, nutrients and additional variables. The documentation has been updated and augmented accordingly.

The Brain Health Data Pilot (BHDP) project aims to be a shared database (like a library) of information for scientists studying brain health, especially for diseases like dementia, which affects about 900,000 people in the UK. Its main feature is a huge collection of brain images linked to routinely collected health records, both from NHS Scotland, which will help scientists learn more about dementia and other brain diseases. What is special about this database is that it will get better over time – as scientists use it and add their discoveries, it becomes more valuable.

This dataset is a subset of the Scottish Accident and Emergency data for use with the BHDP project.

Accident and Emergency Statistics. The A&E datamart was established in June 2007 to monitor the compliance of each NHS Board against the 4 hour wait standard. In July 2010 the A&E data mart was extended further to collect items such as diagnosis, several injury fields and an alcohol involved flag, which will be used to identify whether the patient’s alcohol consumption was a factor in the attendance. The collection of the new fields has been driven by a variety of SG policy decisions and interest from a number of organisations. Although there is now the facility to submit these additional fields, they are still under development and ISD are working with the NHS Boards to support data collection and quality. There are two types of data submitted to the A&E datamart: episode and aggregate level data. All hospitals with Emergency Departments submit episode level data containing a detailed record for each patient attendance. Some smaller sites with minor injury units or community hospitals only submit aggregate files containing monthly summary attendance and compliance figures only. This is because they do not have the information systems and support to enable collection of detailed patient based information. Sites that submit episode level data account for around 94% of all attendances at A&E.

This statistic displays the distribution of adults who said their general health was very good in Scotland in 2023, by gender and age. In this year, 34 percent of men and 32 percent of women aged between 35 and 44 years said that their general health was very good.

The 27-30 month review is an assessment generally carried out by a health visitor. This review started in April 2013 and is offered to all children. A wide range of information is collected including developmental domains such as speech, language and communication, hearing, vision, personal/social, behavioural/emotional, fine motor and gross motor. A full publication report and technical report are available. All publications and supporting material to this topic area can be found on the ISD Scotland - Child Health Website.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) series was established in 1995. Commissioned by the Scottish Government Health Directorates, the series provides regular information on aspects of the public's health and factors related to health which cannot be obtained from other sources. The SHeS series was designed to:

• estimate the prevalence of particular health conditions in Scotland;
• estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these health conditions and to document the pattern of related health behaviours;
• look at differences between regions and between subgroups of the population in the extent of their having these particular health conditions or risk factors, and to make comparisons with other national statistics for Scotland and England;
• monitor trends in the population's health over time;
• make a major contribution to monitoring progress towards health targets.

Each survey in the series includes a set of core questions and measurements (height and weight and, if applicable, blood pressure, waist circumference, urine and saliva samples), plus modules of questions on specific health conditions that vary from year to year. Each year the core sample has also been augmented by an additional boosted sample for children. Since 2008 NHS Health Boards have also had the opportunity to boost the number of adult interviews carried out in their area.

The Scottish Government Scottish Health Survey webpages contain further information about the series, including latest news and publications.


For the fourth edition (February 2021) minor corrections have been made to the relationship variables from the household grid (Ra to R10a). All data files have been updated accordingly.
Main Topics:

The Scottish Health Survey, 2018 was the 14th survey in the series. Topics covered included household composition, demographics (including ethnicity, religion, educational background and economic activity), general health including caring, mental health and wellbeing, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and asthma, physical activity, sedentary activity, barriers and motivations to exercise, eating habits, fruit and veg consumption, smoking and drinking, dental health, social capital, and a second stage follow-up visit from a survey nurse to collect biological samples and anthropometric measurements.

The study also includes combined datasets covering 2015/16/17/18 and 2017/18. They contain information from the household questionnaires, main individual schedules, self-completions and the biological modules (where applicable). The combined datasets have been provided to give a larger base for analysis of variables from the biological module. The individual year datasets should be used for analysis of individual years, including comparison between years.

This is a subset of National Records of Scotland (NRS) - Deaths dataset for use in the Brain Health Data Pilot (BHDP) project.

The Brain Health Data Pilot (BHDP) project aims to be a shared database (like a library) of information for scientists studying brain health, especially for diseases like dementia, which affects about 900,000 people in the UK. Its main feature is a huge collection of brain images linked to routinely collected health records, both from NHS Scotland, which will help scientists learn more about dementia and other brain diseases. What is special about this database is that it will get better over time – as scientists use it and add their discoveries, it becomes more valuable.

In 2023, a survey on mental wellbeing in adults in Scotland showed that men had a mean score of 49.1 and women had a mean score of 48.9 out of 70. A higher score in this scale indicates a greater wellbeing. This statistic displays the mental wellbeing of adults according to the Warwick Edinburgh mental wellbeing scale in Scotland from 2008 to 2023, by gender.

Statistical release published by the Scottish Government detailing cancer waiting-time statistics for urgently-referred patients by tumour site and NHS board.

Source agency: Scottish Government

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Cancer Waiting Times, Scotland

Scotland data added to the WHO database of 600 health/health-related indicators for over 50 countries in Europe (including UK), for 1970 to the present, where available. Data are presented in a user-friendly, graphical or tabular form, allowing time trend and international comparisons. Accompanying briefing notes provide a summary of the findings and some interpretation.

Source agency: ISD Scotland (part of NHS National Services Scotland)

Designation: Official Statistics not designated as National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Scotland and European HfA Database

The Brain Health Data Pilot (BHDP) project aims to be a shared database (like a library) of information for scientists studying brain health, especially for diseases like dementia, which affects about 900,000 people in the UK. Its main feature is a huge collection of brain images linked to routinely collected health records, both from NHS Scotland, which will help scientists learn more about dementia and other brain diseases. What is special about this database is that it will get better over time – as scientists use it and add their discoveries, it becomes more valuable.

This is a subset of the Mental Health Inpatient and Day Case - Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR04) dataset for use in the Brain Health Data Pilot (BHDP) project.

The dataset contains a wide variety of information such as patient characteristics, mental health diagnosis, length of stay, destination on discharge, whether they are admitted under Mental Health Legislation and any previous psychiatric care. Patient identifiers such as name, date of birth, Community Health Index number, NHS number, and postcode are included together with a wide variety of geographical measures. This includes the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and Carstairs measures, census output area, NHS Board, Electoral Ward and Parliamentary constituency.

A survey on mental wellbeing in adults in Scotland showed that, during 2021 and 2022, 77 percent of men and 75 percent of women had no symptoms of depression. This statistic displays the number of symptoms of depression among adults in Scotland in 2021 and 2022, by gender.

This view service provides spatial data relating to human health and safety held by the Scottish Government.

Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland, part of National Services Scotland works closely with Public Health Scotland to deliver the COVID-19 response. This dataset provides data for hospital onset COVID-19 cases in Scotland for week ending 1 March 2020 to week ending 5 February 2023. COVID-19 cases first diagnosed within hospital inpatients are classed as hospital onset COVID-19, with the length of time between admission and the date of first positive test of new infections or reinfection episodes (90 days from previous COVID-19 positive result), determining their hospital onset status. This dataset includes all probable and definite hospital onset COVID-19 cases. Data are published on the Open Data platform at NHS Scotland level, by week of specimen date. All publications and supporting material to this topic area can be found in the weekly Hospital onset COVID-19 cases in Scotland publication. Further information on SARS-CoV-2 and current infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance can be found in the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual. Due to the lower number of hospital onset COVID-19 cases, and to support NHS boards by reducing local Infection Prevention and Control Team resource required for surveillance, the last publication of this data was on 1 March 2023.

Data from the annual Care Home Census for Adults in Scotland. Data are presented at Scotland and at Local Authority level, and cover the period from 2009/10 to 2022/23, excluding the year 2019/20 when the Care Home Census was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further information on the Care Home Census can be found in the latest publication report and dashboard.

This dataset is published as Open DataDelivery of frontline healthcare services in Scotland are the responsibility of 14 regional National Health Service (NHS) Boards that report to the Scottish Government. Current boundaries of NHS Health Boards in Scotland are defined by National Health Service (Variation of Areas of Health Boards) (Scotland) Order 2013 (SSI 2013/347), which came into force on April 1st 2014, and replaces the previous definition based upon the former Regions and Districts of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. This change was made in order to re-align Health Boards with the combined area of each Local Authority that they serve. Subsequent changes to Local Authorities will result in corresponding amendments to Health Board boundaries in order to maintain alignment.

Born in Scotland is an ongoing observational longitudinal study set to capture a contemporary and representative cohort of mothers in Scotland and provide a valuable research resource to assess current clinical issues and health disparities and investigate the drivers of long-term maternal and child wellbeing. The current pilot study is open to recruitment and is testing consent models. The scale-up study intends to include 100,000 pregnant women and their children, constituting a diverse, flexible, and nationally representative maternity cohort. It is embedded within the NHS services, capitalising on capturing routinely collected data and biological samples, and allowing linkage to additional clinical and demographic data through the unique Community Health Index (CHI) number.

The pilot study currently targets all women aged 18-50 years old, living in Edinburgh and the Lothians and the Borders, and who are planning to give birth in Scotland, offering recruitment during any of the routine antenatal booking appointments. Data from the participants is extracted from the electronic maternity records, neonatal units, and clinical and diagnostic results. Biological samples are retrieved from hospital laboratories using samples that would otherwise be discarded after clinical use or collected at birth. The aim is to use the cohort to link to future maternal and child health and social care records to address key research questions to improve maternal and child health in Scotland.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) series was established in 1995. Commissioned by the Scottish Government Health Directorates, the series provides regular information on aspects of the public's health and factors related to health which cannot be obtained from other sources. The SHeS series was designed to:

• estimate the prevalence of particular health conditions in Scotland;
• estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these health conditions and to document the pattern of related health behaviours;
• look at differences between regions and between subgroups of the population in the extent of their having these particular health conditions or risk factors, and to make comparisons with other national statistics for Scotland and England;
• monitor trends in the population's health over time;
• make a major contribution to monitoring progress towards health targets.

Each survey in the series includes a set of core questions and measurements (height and weight and, if applicable, blood pressure, waist circumference, urine and saliva samples), plus modules of questions on specific health conditions that vary from year to year. Each year the core sample has also been augmented by an additional boosted sample for children. Since 2008 NHS Health Boards have also had the opportunity to boost the number of adult interviews carried out in their area.

The Scottish Government Scottish Health Survey webpages contain further information about the series, including latest news and publications.

Scottish Health Survey, 2021: Special Licence Access
The drug and alcohol use questions in the SHeS 2021 young adult and adult self-completions (paper and web) are available under a Special Licence (SL). Most of the variables and derived variables relate to drug use, with a few relating to whether alcohol has been a problem. The rest of the variables relating to alcohol use are available in the Scottish Health Survey, 2021 EUL dataset (available from the UK Data Archive under SN 9048). User are advised to consult the EUL version first before applying for the SL data.

Main Topics:

Illegal drug use and alcohol abuse.

Deprivation and health in Scotland : insights from NHS data is a book. It was written by Gordon McLaren and published by NHS in Scotland, ISD in 1998.

This dataset of the name, address, location and unique ID of every registered General Practitioner Practice in Scotland has initially been supplied by Geoplace. It takes data from the NHS open data platform (https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset) and matches it to current address records from the One Scotland Gazetteer.and AddressBase.