How is the data used

The Acute Hospital & NHS Beds Data Release is made available so all of our customers can use the data. The data is made available using open government license (external website) so it can be used for any purpose that is appropriate.

Data have been used to look at the performance of these services, to plan for future needs, to support quality improvement, to see how services are changing over time, and many other uses.

Each of the NHS Boards in Scotland needs local and national data. Data is used to plan and improve the services they deliver. In each NHS Board they have analytical teams. These teams use a variety of data sources, including data from Public Health Scotland (PHS), to understand how care is delivered. This is then used to identify opportunities to improve services.

Quality and performance reports are one example of the use of data. These are produced for the NHS Board’s corporate management team and their executive board. They would use this report to get a high level overview of performance and quality improvement. Then they would identify areas to focus on and how to address them.

As part of PHS's Transforming Publishing Programme, PHS are working with teams like this and other customers to provide data to them in a way that better meets their needs. Here are some examples of what our other customers want from us:

Last updated: 21 March 2024
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