A guide to our website: making best use of the ScotPHO website

This page provides a brief guide to making the best use of the ScotPHO website. It aims to respond to questions from our users about when they should use the ScotPHO website and when they should use other websites like the Public Health Scotland, National Records of Scotland or Scottish Government websites.

What is the ScotPHO website most useful for?

The purpose of the ScotPHO website is to provide easy access to information about the range of data sources available to help those working to improve population health in Scotland. The site includes topic summaries: for a range of health conditions and diseases; for risk factors (both behavioural and clinical in nature) such as physical activity, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs; for wider determinants of health, such as housing, income and employment, and the physical and social environment; and about the needs of specific population groups, such as ethnic minorities, sexual minorities and older people. It includes a range of interactive online tools, including the ScotPHO Online Profiles Tool that presents a range of indicators to give an overview of health and its wider determinants at a local level and highlights variation through a variety of different visualisations. The site also includes a wide range of public health reports and papers published by ScotPHO collaboration partners, and a range of other resources including guides to methodology and public health intelligence training materials.

The ScotPHO website is designed to be useful to those carrying out population needs assessment. A description of this process is provided in our Public Health Intelligence Training Course materials. It should also be useful for those making decisions about prioritisation, and for those planning services.

Work is currently underway to better integrate ScotPHO with other available resources to support public health action.

What is the ScotPHO website less useful for?

The ScotPHO website does not, in general, publish new data – rather it aims to signpost the most appropriate data sources where you will find the most up-to-date data relating to the topics covered by the website. If you want to download data you may not be able to do this directly from the ScotPHO website. However, you may find guidance about the best source of the data you are looking for.

The ScotPHO website does not aim to provide information for patients and their carers. We would recommend other websites for this purpose, such as NHS Inform.

The ScotPHO website does not aim to provide information on the effectiveness of treatments and other health interventions. We do, however, provide general links to sources of this information.

When should I use other websites?

If you know which organisation publishes the data you are looking for, it will probably be more useful to search that organisation's website directly. Much of the data highlighted on the ScotPHO website is published on what was the ISD Scotland website, now part of Public Health Scotland, the National Records of Scotland website or the Scottish Government website. Appropriate links are provided from all of the sections on the ScotPHO website to the relevant data sources. However, if you do not find what you are looking for on the ScotPHO website you may want to check these other websites directly.

What could I get from the Public Health Scotland website?

Public Health Scotland was established on 1st April 2020, bringing together ISD Scotland, NHS Health Scotland and Health Protection Scotland. Work is underway to expand the information and data published on the new Public Health Scotland website and to migrate over relevant content from the websites of the predecessor organisations. In the meantime, the websites of ISD Scotland, NHS Health Scotland and Health Protection Scotland remain available but now with Public Health Scotland branding.

The Data and Intelligence web content for Public Health Scotland is currently hosted on the domain of the former ISD Scotland website. This provides detailed reports on specific topics. It provides data in tables and, increasingly, through interactive dashboard tools. One quick way to find what you are looking for is the A to Z Index of topics. If you are looking for a recent report, see the Recent Publications area of the website.

The Improving Health web content for Public Health Scotland is currently hosted on the domain of the former NHS Health Scotland website. It has a particular focus on health inequalities and what works to reduce these inequalities. It also includes a range of practical tools relating to reducing health inequalities.

The Health Protection web content for Public Health Scotland is currently hosted on the domain of the former Health Protection Scotland website. This provides reports, guidance and detailed statistics on communicable diseases and environmental health.

Public Health Scotland can provide data to meet your specific needs through its information request service, though there may be a charge if this requires a large amount of work. There may, also, be restrictions on what data can be released if there is a risk of identifying individual patients. Further information on charging and disclosure control can be found at the bottom of the Information requests web page.

What could I get from the National Records of Scotland website?

National Records of Scotland publish reports and detailed statistics on births, deaths and population in Scotland at small area level. They are also able to provide data to meet your specific needs through an information request service.

What could I get from the Scottish Government website?

The Scottish Government website has a useful set of pages that summarise Scottish Government Health Statistics. These include overviews of key public health topics and details of national surveys, such as the Scottish Health Survey and the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS), as well as pages on health inequalities. The Scottish Government is in the process of refreshing its website and some of the content currently sits on an archive site.