About ISD
Scotland has some of the best health service data in the world. Few other countries have information which combines high quality data, consistency, national coverage and the ability to link data to allow patient based analysis and follow up. The Information Services Division (ISD) is a division of National Services Scotland, part of NHS Scotland. ISD provides health information, health intelligence, statistical services and advice that support the NHS in progressing quality improvement in health and care and facilitates robust planning and decision making.
What's New in ISD?
Public Health Scotland 
This website is changing.
From 1 April 2020 Public
Health Scotland will be responsible for this website.
COVID-19 and the production of statistics
Due to the coronavirus illness (COVID-19) we anticipate that there might be some changes in terms of our regular statistical production. The current disruption to Scotland and the rest of the UK could affect the quality of some of our statistics, such as lower accuracy, or it could mean there is less detail available, such as fewer local and regional breakdowns. In some cases, the production of some data series may need to be suspended. Alternatively, we may find there are advantages to using other data sources.
Decisions will be made on a case by case basis, taking into account what information is currently relevant given the situation, with the three pillars of the Code of Practice for Statistics (Trustworthiness, Quality and Value) guiding our decisions. Giving everyone access to statistics at the same time remains a fundamental principle of the Code, but where this cannot be maintained we will be open and transparent about this and any other potential effects on our statistics. These decisions will be underpinned by the Office for Statistics Regulation's guidance on Changes to statistical outputs during the coronavirus outbreak.
We will keep you informed as developments unfold. We remain committed to providing the best and most accurate information we can, serving the public good at a time when it is needed the most.
NHS Performs - Latest update
NHS Performs is a website which brings together a range of information on how hospitals and NHS Boards within NHSScotland are performing. It aims to provide this information in an easy to access, clear and understandable way.
NHS Performs has been updated to include information on:
- Emergency Department activity for the week ending 19 April 2020
[28 April 2020]
Latest Statistics
Annual update of cancer registration information. Information will be added for patients diagnosed in 2018 for approximately 50 cancer sites.
This release of NHS Performs includes official statistics collected by ISD Scotland on attendances at Emergency Departments (EDs) across Scotland. The information presented in this release includes the number of attendances and 4, 8 and 12 hour waits at EDs.
Update of breast screening statistics to 31 March 2019 including uptake, cancer detection rates, biopsy results and other outcomes.
This release of NHS Performs includes official statistics collected by ISD Scotland on attendances at Emergency Departments (EDs) across Scotland. The information presented in this release includes the number of attendances and 4, 8 and 12 hour waits at EDs.
The data extract is presented as downloadable text (.csv) file and covers practice level prescribing for the month of January 2020. A dashboard will also be available to enable preview the data without downloading the large file. The data extract will also feed into existing dashboards which present historical data already published elsewhere on the ISD website (in the March 2020 Summary stats dashboard).
This release of NHS Performs includes official statistics collected by ISD Scotland on attendances at Emergency Departments (EDs) across Scotland. The information presented in this release includes the number of attendances and 4, 8 and 12 hour waits at EDs.
Statistics on NHS Board/Hospital cancellations of operations for patients who have been booked for an elective scheduled theatre operation.
The publication provides a monthly update on the number of hospital bed days associated with delayed discharges for a full calendar month. Information is also provided on the number of people experiencing a delay in discharge from hospital at the monthly census point. The data relate to people aged 18 and over.
Attendances trend - national, board and hospital level, Compliance - 4 hours standard at national, board and hospital level, 4 / 8 / 12 hour waiting times and discharge destination at national, board and hospital level.
This release of NHS Performs includes official statistics collected by ISD Scotland on attendances at Emergency Departments (EDs) across Scotland. The information presented in this release includes the number of attendances and 4, 8 and 12 hour waits at EDs.
Quarterly Cancer Waiting Times statistics for the 62-day standard: patients urgently referred with a suspicion of cancer to first cancer treatment; and for the 31-day standard: all patients regardless of the route of referral from date of decision to treat to first cancer treatment by NHS Board, Cancer Network and Cancer Type.
National reporting of Upper GI Cancer Quality Performance Indicators
Information on the number of clients seen and the length of time they waited, and the progress towards the Scottish Government HEAT standard, quarter ending December 2019. Data presented by Health Board and Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP). Includes information on number of clients seen in prison and length of time they waited.
Results of the 2019 Primary Care Out of Hours Workforce Survey. The report includes information on GPs and nurses working for Scotland's Primary Care Out of Hours Services.
This publication reports on performance against the Scottish Government's Local Delivery Plan (LDP) standard that all those newly diagnosed with dementia should have a minimum of twelve months post-diagnostic support. Figures reported in this release are for 2016/17 and 2017/18 and presented by NHS Board and Integration Joint Board (IJB).
The ScotPHO website is partially updated each quarter with different topics updated in different quarters.
This release of NHS Performs includes official statistics collected by ISD Scotland on attendances at Emergency Departments (EDs) across Scotland. The information presented in this release includes the number of attendances and 4, 8 and 12 hour waits at EDs.
The Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) is a major web resource that has been developed by ISD Scotland in collaboration with NHS Health Scotland and other key national organisations.