A FIFE MSP has slammed the NHS over "atrocious" waiting times in the Kingdom's A&E department.

Murdo Fraser has hit out at the service after it was announced that just 72.9 per cent of patients are seen in Victoria Hospital within the Scottish Government's four-hour target.

Across Scotland, only 70.2 per cent were taken within that time frame, compared to Holyrood's aim of seeing 95 per cent.

"We are fast approaching summer and the picture with Covid is improving, yet A&E waiting times in Fife are still atrocious," Mr Fraser commented.

"Far too many patients in Fife are continuing to suffer excessive waits in A&E, which will ultimately lead to yet more unnecessary deaths.

"The SNP have missed their A&E waiting times target week after week, month after month, but we still see little in the way of action from the Health Secretary.”

The latest figures published by Public Health Scotland showed that the numbers for the week beginning May 15 had improved upon the previous week, which was as low as 70.3 per cent.

The Conservative representative continued: "Humza Yousaf needs to finally accept his flimsy NHS Recovery plan - produced almost a year ago - simply isn’t working for Fife.

"He must urgently and belatedly come up with a new strategy in order to ensure A&E waiting times dramatically improve."

The only area in the country to meet the government's target that week was Shetland, where 96.8 per cent of patients were seen within four hours.

NHS Fife director of acute services, Claire Dobson, said: "While there are now fewer patients requiring inpatient care for COVID-19, our hospitals still remain extremely busy and we are continuing to see much higher numbers of people presenting at our Emergency Department. Indeed, many of our highest daily attendances at our Emergency Department have come in recent months, and despite this we continue to better the national average for 4-hour performance, as we have done in 14 of the previous 15 weeks.

"In addition to seeing far higher numbers of people presenting, we are also seeing greater numbers of those who are frail or more acutely unwell. This means that patients are requiring a greater level of care and are often remaining longer in hospital, which adds additional pressure to services and leads to some patients waiting longer in our Emergency Department.

"It is important to remember also that those patients waiting remain in the expert care of our clinical team and are continually monitored throughout. Crucially, patients are triaged by our Emergency Department staff on arrival, with those who are most acutely unwell prioritised and seen very quickly."