Performance standards are set and agreed between the Scottish Government and NHS Boards to provide assurance on NHS Scotland performance. This dashboard presents up-to-date statistics for all current standards of which we are aware.
Dashboard with two views
- All health boards view shows one measure in each health board and Scotland overall.
- All measures view shows all measures in one health board and Scotland overall.
Hover mouse over chart to see if standards are met or missed at any point in time.
Data last updated on 20 January 2026.
Active standards – details
These are the measures included in the dashboard with links to the relevant Official Statistics reports, which contain more detail, interpretation, and caveats around the statistics, as well as data sources.
- Standard: 95% of new outpatients should receive an outpatient appointment within 12 weeks. Health boards should work towards 100 per cent.
- The way this waiting time is calculated changed in 2023, resulting in fewer long waits. The impact on the statistics is explained in PHS impact assessment - 2023 Waiting Times Guidance
- Official Statistics: Stage of treatment waiting times – NHS waiting times – stage of treatment – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Standard: 95% of people attending A&E should be seen, admitted, discharged or transferred within 4 hours. NHS Boards should work towards 98%.
- Changes to the standard (2024): Changes to the Four Hour Emergency Access Standard (EAS)
- Official Statistics: Accident and emergency - Urgent and unscheduled care - Healthcare system - Public Health Scotland
- Open data: Monthly A&E Activity and Waiting Times – Datasets – Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data
- Standard: 95% of all patients diagnosed with cancer should begin treatment within 31 days of decision to treat.
- Official Statistics: Cancer waiting times – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Standard: 95% of those referred urgently with a suspicion of cancer should begin treatment within 62 days of receipt of referral.
- Official Statistics: Cancer waiting times – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Standard: 90% of young people should begin treatment for specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health services within 18 weeks of referral.
- Official Statistics: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Standard: NHS Boards’ rate of clostridium difficile infections (CDI) in patients aged 15 and over should be 0.32 cases or less per 1,000 total occupied bed days.
- Standard currently under review
- The reporting of the underlying statistics changed in 2017. The dashboard shows healthcare-associated CDI cases per 100,000 total occupied bed days.
- Official statistics:Â Quarterly epidemiological data on Clostridioides difficile infection, Escherichia coli bacteraemia, Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia and Surgical Site Infection in Scotland. July to September (Q3) 2024 | National Services Scotland
- Open data: Quarterly Epidemiological Data on Healthcare Associated Infections – Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data
- Standard: All patients should receive key diagnostic tests / investigations (upper & lower endoscopy, colonoscopy, cytoscopy, CT scan, MRI scan, barium studies, non-obstetric ultrasound) within 6 weeks.
- Official Statistics: NHS waiting times – diagnostics – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Standard: 90% of clients should wait no longer than 3 weeks from referral received to appropriate drug or alcohol treatment that supports their recovery.
- Official Statistics: National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Standard: At least 80% of pregnant women in each Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile should have booked for antenatal care by the 12th week of gestation.
- Official Statistics: Births in Scotland – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Open data: Births in Scotland – Antenatal Booking Appointment Time – Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data
- Standard: GPs should provide 48 hour access to an appropriate member of the GP team for at least 90% of patients.
- Official Statistics: Health and Care Experience Survey 2023/24: National Results – gov.scot
- Note that these statistics are no longer published using the same definition as the historic time series, but they were made available on request.
- Standard: GPs should provide advance booking for at least 90% of patients.
- Official Statistics: Health and Care Experience Survey 2023/24: National Results – gov.scot
- Standard: 90% of eligible patients should begin IVF treatment within 12 months of referral.
- The way this waiting time is calculated changed in 2023. However, "trends in IVF waiting times data before and after implementation of the 2023 Waiting Times Guidance are robust and continue to provide valuable insights into the experiences of individuals waiting to be screened for IVF" (from full report IVF waiting times in Scotland - Quarter ending 30 September 2025 - IVF waiting times in Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland).
- Official Statistics: IVF waiting times in Scotland – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Standard: 90% of patients should begin Psychological Therapy based treatment within 18 weeks of referral.
- Official Statistics: Psychological therapies waiting times – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Standard: NHS Boards’ rate of staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (including MRSA) (SAB) cases should be 0.24 or less per 1,000 acute occupied bed days.
- Standard currently under review
- The reporting of the underlying statistics changed in 2017. The dashboard shows healthcare-associated SAB cases per 100,000 total occupied bed days.
- Official Statistics:Â Quarterly epidemiological data on Clostridioides difficile infection, Escherichia coli bacteraemia, Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia and Surgical Site Infection in Scotland. July to September (Q3) 2024 | National Services Scotland
- Open data: Quarterly Epidemiological Data on Healthcare Associated Infections – Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data
- Standard: NHS Boards should achieve a sickness absence rate of 4% or less.
- Official Statistics: Official Workforce Statistics | Turas Data Intelligence
- Standard: NHS Boards should sustain and embed successful smoking quits at 12 weeks post quit, in the 40% most deprived areas (60% in the Island Boards).
- Official Statistics: NHS Stop Smoking Services Scotland – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- Standard: All patients should receive their treatment within 12 weeks.
- The way this waiting time is calculated changed in 2023, resulting in fewer long waits. The impact on the statistics is explained in PHS impact assessment - 2023 Waiting Times Guidance
- Official Statistics: Stage of treatment waiting times – NHS waiting times – stage of treatment – Publications – Public Health Scotland
Previous and paused standards
The 2015-16 NHSScotland Local Delivery Plan Guidance provided a full list of performance standards for NHS Boards. Of these, the five below are not included in the dashboard, as they have been paused since, or in one case, it has been unclear how the standard is assessed.
- Standard: 90% of planned / elective patients should begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral.
- Latest Official Statistics: NHS waiting times - 18 weeks referral to treatment - Publications - Public Health Scotland
- Reasons for pausing the statistics: Scott Heald to Ed Humpherson: 18 weeks referral to treatment publication pause - Publications - Public Health Scotland
- Standard: Sustain and embed alcohol brief interventions in 3 priority settings (primary care, A&E, antenatal) and broaden delivery in wider settings
- Latest Official Statistics: Alcohol brief interventions - 2019/20 - Alcohol brief interventions - Publications - Public Health Scotland
- Data collection and reporting of Alcohol Brief Interventions were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not resumed following a review of the programme: Alcohol brief interventions: A review of strategy and recommendations for policy - Publications - Public Health Scotland
- Standard: People newly diagnosed with dementia should be offered a minimum of one year’s post-diagnostic support, coordinated by a named link worker.
- Official Statistics: Dementia post-diagnostic support – Local Delivery Plan Standard; Figures to 2021/22 – Publications – Public Health Scotland
- The Official Statistics annual publication is currently undergoing a content review and therefore publication has been paused. No publication date has yet been confirmed.
- Standard: Increase the proportion of people diagnosed and treated in the first stage of breast, colorectal and lung cancer by 25%.
- Latest Official Statistics: Detect Cancer Early Staging Data (Year 10) & Impact of COVID-19
- The Detect Cancer Early programme has ended. A similar measure "Reduced later stage diagnosis", framed as an "Outcome" rather than a standard, is contained in Cancer strategy 2023-2033 and cancer action plan 2023-2026: monitoring and evaluation framework - August 2023 - gov.scot.
- Standard: NHS Boards are required to operate within their Revenue Resource Limit, their Capital Resource Limit, and meet their Cash Requirement.
- It was unclear to us how this standard is assessed: is it to be met before or after any additional financial support or brokerage is provided from the Scottish Government?
Further reading
Other SPICe blogs on NHS performance:
- A look at NHS performance reporting in Scotland
- Whatever happened to NHS performance reporting? – SPICe Spotlight | Solas air SPICe
- FAQs on NHS waiting times in Scotland – SPICe Spotlight | Solas air SPICe
Scottish Government-commissioned independent national review into targets and indicators for health and social care (Sir Harry Burns review):