Inspectors have identified a "significant risk" to patient safety at a flagship Scottish hospital.

Officials from Healthcare Improvement Scotland were so alarmed by their findings at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, that they alerted the Government.

A report by the organisation found that patients were "wheeled along the corridor to the toilet on commodes rather than wheelchairs" while patients were moved from one ward to another up to five times, even during the night.

Some patients were sleeping in chairs as the beds had been stripped and not remade and one was "trying to buzz nurses from 6 to 9am before they were helped".

Inspectors were told several wards were "consistently" over capacity and nine wards had an occupancy rate of "101-112%".

The announced inspection was carried out from May 14-16 and the focus was to be on the care of older people but staff concerns prompted an investigation into capacity issues.

In the instance where a risk to patient safety was identified, the report said there had been a medical emergency in a bay where there was an extra bed.

Staff had expressed concerns that there could be a safety issue if they were unable to get the necessary workers or equipment to a patient because the extra bed getting in the way. Inspectors said: "We also saw that, as the extra bed was added to the middle of the bay and not in a designated area, there were no oxygen or suction points.

"We believe there is a significant risk to patients and as such this was escalated to the executive team in the NHS board."

The Victoria Hospital, which had a state-of-the-art extension opened in 2012, has around 640 staffed beds.

The inspection looked at boarding – when patients are moved from one ward to another to meet the needs of the service rather than the patient. "A doctor told us there were several days when elective surgery was cancelled due to the number of boarded patients in a ward," inspectors wrote.

But NHS Fife said it was "pleased" that 97% of patients surveyed during the visit were satisfied with the quality of care.

Chief Executive John Wilson said the visit had taken place at a "busy time" but added: "We recognise that the purpose of inspection visits is to identify areas for further improvement and the issues referred to regarding capacity of the system were well-known to us and under active management at the time of the visit."

Mr Wilson added that an action plan had been agreed to tackle the issues raised in the report.