WAITING time performance in Scotland’s A&E units improved sharply last week, albeit from a record low.
However the latest official figures showed a quarter of patients were still waiting longer than the four hour target.
Public Health Scotland reported 74.9 per cent of attendees were seen on time in the week to January 16, up from 67.4% the previous week and 71.6% the week before that.
The record low followed the Omicron Covid variant causing severe NHS staff shortages.
The week to January 16 also saw falls in the number of people enduring very long waits.
The number of people waiting over four hours fell from 6,902 to 5,232, while the number waiting over eight hours fell from a record 2,078 to 1,391, and the number waiting waiting over 12 hours fell from a record 689 to 475.
The improvements came as the number of people attending A&E also fell, from 21,163 to 20,822.
The target is for 95% of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
It has not been met nationally since July 2020.
It has been below 80% since mid July this year.
The worst performing NHS board last week was NHS Borders, with 69.7% of A&E patients seen within four hours.
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