The number of patients kept in hospital when they were clinically ready to leave has fallen 4 per cent in a month, latest figures show.

A census carried out for November found 1,509 people were delayed in hospital, down from 1,576 in October - a reduction of 4.3 per cent.

The total number of days lost to so-called bed blocking also decreased over the same period, from 48,104 in October to 45,639 in November - a drop of 5.1 per cent.

More than two-thirds (68%) of the people delayed were aged 75 and over, the ISD Scotland figures also show.

The majority of delays were due to health and social care reasons, such as waiting for care home places or for social care support.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: "It is encouraging to see a reduction in the number of bed days lost to delayed discharge in November.

"However, one unnecessary delay is one too many and I have repeated my ambition and expectation that our new integrated health and social care partnerships will address this.

"The draft budget announced an additional £107 million to transfer from the NHS to health and social care partnerships to support sustainability in the care sector, bringing the NHS contribution to enhancing social care to around £500 million next year, and that funding will be used to further improve social care provisions."

Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar accused Scottish Government ministers of "burying their heads in the sand" about problems in the NHS.

He said: "Shona Robison admits delayed discharge is the biggest issue facing our health service, and the major reason pressure is piled on A&E departments.

"Yet two years on from promising to abolish it, we still see 1,500 delayed patients in a month and as a result A&E patients waiting too long for treatment.

"Patients being delayed in our hospitals mean more pressure in the system and a lack of resources for new arrivals and less beds available for new admissions."