Waiting times for diagnostic tests within the NHS have plummeted in the last year, statisticians said yesterday. Nearly all patients waiting for eight key tests are now being seen within nine weeks, they said.

Waiting times for diagnostic tests within the NHS have plummeted in the last year, statisticians said yesterday.

Nearly all patients waiting for eight key tests are now being seen within nine weeks, they said. The number of people waiting more than nine weeks, at 124, represents a fall of more than 540 since June, and of nearly 5000 from this time last year.

The figures follow revelations in The Herald that thousands of patients urgently referred for cancer care are being treated inside two months - the first time hospitals have met their national waiting targets.

The latest waiting list statistics were published in a batch of NHS figures which also showed shorter waiting times for inpatient and outpatient treatment, and a fall in those on Availability Status Codes (ASCs) or "hidden waiting lists".

The number on these lists, to be abolished next year, was 16,745 in the last quarter - down by more than 8000 on the previous quarter and more than 17,000 a year ago.

Nicola Sturgeon, Secretary for Health, said boards were working "extremely hard" to drive this figure down further before ASCs were replaced by an "open and transparent" waiting time guarantee system by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, figures for inpatient waiting times showed none waiting more than 26 weeks, and just one waiting for more than 18.

The target for inpatient waiting times is 26 weeks. This is set to fall to 18 weeks at the end of December. Nearly all those on outpatient lists had been waiting less than 26 weeks, but the number waiting more than 18 rose by 9% in the last quarter.

Other figures showed 97% of patients attending accident and emergency departments spent less than four hours between arrival and admission, the highest percentage ever, but Ms Sturgeon admitted "very busy boards have a particular challenge" after the figures revealed several hospitals only managed 93%.

Labour's Margaret Curran called the fall "testament to the previous executive's commitment". The Tories' Mary Scanlon focused on the 9% increase in outpatients waiting longer than 18 weeks, and remained "concerned" at NHS priorities "based on political targets rather than clinical need".