SCOTTISH Government figures revealed this week showed the number of Fife patients having to wait for treatment has doubled compared to the same period last year.

In the period between July and September this year, a total of 108 people waited more than 12 weeks for inpatient and day treatment compared to only 45 in the same period in 2015.

However, an NHS Fife spokesperson defended the figures. “NHS Fife’s Treatment Time Guarantee performance continues to be amongst the best in Scotland and this was recently acknowledged by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Shona Robison MSP, at our annual review in August,” said the spokesperson.

“Significant improvements in our outpatient performance over recent months have seen the number of patients waiting over 12 weeks fall from around 2,500 to around 700. A by-product of this success is that initial outpatient assessment often transitions into inpatient care, which has caused some backlog.

“Importantly, there is a robust triage system in place to expedite surgical priorities and ensure those most in need of surgical attention are treated first.”