Scottish mental health minister Maureen Watt said staff and volunteers had gone "above and beyond" what was expected in delivering health care in the Kingdom

The MSP also praised the efforts of the 9,000 staff and volunteers who had gone “above and beyond” what was expected in delivering health care in the Kingdom.

Ms Watt attended NHS Fife’s annual review on Thursday, with the board’s performance coming under the microscope.

She was particularly impressed they had managed to balance the books, with chief executive Paul Hawkins stating that achieving a break-even position had been like “trying to land a jumbo jet on a postage stamp”.

The minister said: “In terms of finance, NHS Fife has really done well over the last year.

“Audit Scotland gave it a clean bill of health and I think it’s in a large amount due to the staff who have gone above and beyond what you would expect of them, and their performance has been exemplary.

“So while there are still challenges, I recognise the huge amount of work that’s been done by the board, senior management and, more importantly, all the staff at NHS Fife.”

The annual review gives members of the public, patients, families and carers the opportunity to quiz health chiefs on the board’s performance.

Those in attendance at the Victoria Hospital were told of good performance in areas such as A&E, where the target of seeing 95 per cent of all patients within four hours was surpassed, and in the number of cancer patients being treated within 31 days of diagnosis.

Other positives included the number of patients completing treatment within 18 weeks of referral, a fall in the the rate of clostridium difficile infections per 1,000 bed days and a rise in the number of alcohol interventions completed and dementia patients registered.

Areas for improvement include delayed discharges, treatment for patients with a suspicion of cancer within 62 days and in staff sickness absence, which was above five per cent for the year.

The targets of 18 weeks from referral to treatment, for both Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and psychological therapies, were missed.

Challenges remain with increased demand for services, an ageing population with more complex healthcare needs, difficulties with bed capacity and staff shortages among the main issues.

Chair of NHS Fife Tricia Marwick said: “Wednesday was the 69th birthday of the NHS and it was also almost four years to the day I was in this hospital having treatment for bowel cancer, so I’m personally grateful to our NHS.

“I’ve been chair for just six months but it’s been long enough to get a fascinating glimpse of the complexities in delivering healthcare for the people of Fife.”

She praised staff and highlighted “success stories”, such as the morning safety huddle, the swift IT response to the recent ransomware attack and the approach to frailty, with each patient arriving at the hospital undergoing a frailty assessment – this is now being adopted by other boards. Improving services through innovation was a key theme with the Patient Track system allowing staff to quickly identify patients who are deteriorating.

More than a million observations were noted with a 70 per cent reduction in cardiac arrests in A&E.

Trakcare has been introduced which allows patient information to be shared along with real-time information about bed occupancy.

Services for people with dementia have also improved with the Cosy Neuk, a 1950s/60s themed area in the Vic to stimulate memory and conversation by replicating the designs, products, sights and sounds of another era.

Mr Hawkins said: “NHS Fife strives to constantly improve services and it is encouraging to see that our innovative programmes are not only making our hospitals safer but are making a positive difference to the healthcare experiences of patients and their families.

“We have maintained good performance in key areas and are making inroads in areas where further work is necessary. Despite a challenging year, we have also delivered a break-even position financially, with our accounts receiving a clean bill of health from Audit Scotland.

“In a changing landscape, we remain committed to delivering the very best care to the people of Fife.”