The figures for each NHS board area include staff employed in community health settings. The Scotland figures also include staff employed by Special Health Boards.The ratio is based on a comparison over the period from September 1994 to March 2004, between the number of whole time equivalent administrative and clerical staff, which increased from 17,758 to 21,541 to the average number of available staffed beds in Scotland, which decreased from 42,340 to 28,879.The decrease in the number of beds over this period reflects the shift towards providing patient care within the community.