Scottish Health Survey and health record linked data now available

The Scottish Health Survey and health record linked data is now available within the National Safe Haven. Data from the 1998, 2003 and 2008 to 2020 Scottish Health Surveys has now been linked to health record data on the following topics: 

• Visits to hospital and length of stay
• Diagnosis, treatments and hospital stays for cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and psychiatric episodes
• If the respondent has passed away, the date and cause of death
• COVID-19 positive test results and vaccinations

Access is via a short application to be assessed by the Public Health Scotland (PHS) Data Protection Team. Applicants should contact the eDRIS (Electronic Data Research and Innovation Service) team at PHS to check that this permissions route applies to their proposed use. 

Contact details for eDRIS can be found here. Any study requiring additional health record or Scottish Health Survey variables not included in the standard linked datasets will require an application to the relevant Public Benefit and Privacy Panel.