NHS FIFE is “bouncing from crisis to crisis” with new figures revealing an increase in people having to wait more than four hours to be seen at A&E.

The latest stats from ISD Scotland show that 90.9 per cent of patients were treated within the four-hour target time at the Kingdom’s hospitals in December 2014.

The Scottish Government’s target is 95 per cent – but the overall national performance was down at 89.9 per cent.

A total of 6861 people attended A&E in Fife in December, with 623 waiting more than four hours. A further 89 spent more than eight hours while 10 patients had a 12-hour wait.

Cowdenbeath MSP Alex Rowley questioned finance secretary John Swinney about Fife’s figures at Holyrood last Wednesday, and also met health secretary Shona Robison to discuss the matter.

He told the Press, “I specifically referred to the A&E figures and said they were not acceptable.

“It’s just one thing after another and we seem to be bouncing from crisis to crisis in NHS Fife.

“It’s dreadful the amount of pressure staff are under and we need the proper support in place.

“We need more beds, more nurses, but most of all we need the Scottish Government to make a proper assessment into health and social care needs in Fife.

“We have people in hospital with increasingly complex health needs and not all of them are going to be catered for in the community.

“My concern is do we have the capacity in Fife to meet the health needs, and also the modelling that was put in place when acute services were moved to Victoria Hospital.

“The Scottish Government must take responsibility. How much more evidence do we need before they are willing to act?” Professor Scott McLean, NHS Fife interim director of acute services, said, “NHS Fife is fully committed to working towards the four-hour standard for those attending our accident and emergency department.

“Our performance against the standard remained above the national average throughout 2014, with the exception of October where it fell only marginally below.

“Whilst the numbers of those waiting more than four hours increased towards the end of the year, this was as a result of an increased demand for acute care that was experienced nationally, coupled with an increase in the number of patients presenting with particularly complex conditions.

“A great deal of work has been carried out to improve the flow of patients through the system in order that we can continue to reduce the amount of time our patients wait in our A&E and ensure that services are delivered as efficiently as possible.

“I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the role played by our staff, who worked incredibly hard to ensure that our patients receive the optimum levels of care despite the pressures on our services.”