LATEST figures show less than half those who visited Victoria Hospital's A&E unit were seen and dealt with inside the Scottish Government's four-hour target.

Data reveals that of the 1,224 people who attended the emergency department in the week ending January 1, just 49.5 per cent were seen within four hours.

There were 618 patients who had a wait of more than four hours, 271 who faced a wait of more than eight hours and 142 people who had to wait longer than 12 hours.

Former Dunfermline MP, now North East Fife MSP, Willie Rennie, has expressed his concern at the latest statistics and slammed the Scottish Government for not acting sooner.

“These figures are stark and they show the incredible pressure that A&E departments and those who work in them are under," he said. "This is a crisis which has been building over years of SNP inaction.

“Nicola Sturgeon’s last-ditch press conference was a desperate sign that showed just how badly she and her health secretary have mismanaged this winter crisis.”

North East Fife MP Wendy Chamberlain added: “NHS staff are being tested to the very limit by an atrocious winter crisis. They deserve every bit of gratitude, respect and fair pay.

"The reality is, however, that they are being let down by a Scottish Government which has waited months to recognise the scale of the crisis.”

NHS Fife director of acute services, Claire Dobson, said the health and care system in Fife had been under an "unprecedented" level of pressure in recent weeks.

“A significant proportion of those attending our emergency department are acutely unwell and require inpatient care, which is making our hospitals incredibly busy," she said.

"It remains the case that those who are most unwell are prioritised to be assessed very quickly on arrival at the emergency department and, unfortunately, that can mean that patients whose condition is less serious are being required to wait longer.

“Very often, those waiting within our emergency department are awaiting an appropriate bed within our acute hospital, and, where this is the case, patients are cared for and monitored appropriately throughout.

"As we have said previously, we are not in any way accepting of longer waiting times and are working closely with our colleagues in the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership to ensure those who are medically fit to leave hospital can do as quickly as possible.

"This is hugely important in allowing us to free up capacity for those coming in through our emergency department and admissions units and who require ongoing care.”

Health secretary Humza Yousaf said pandemic backlogs, inflation costs and Brexit influencing staff shortages had all contributed to make this winter the most challenging the NHS had ever faced.

“The Scottish Government resilience committee is monitoring the situation extremely closely and we remain in daily contact with Health Boards to ensure all possible actions are being taken to support services," he said.

"This includes the use of Flow Navigation Centres, Hospital at Home and ambulance service staff providing treatment, where appropriate, to help avoid hospital admission. We will also increase staffing for NHS24 to help cope with rises in demand.

“Emergency care will always be there for those who need it but, for many people, the best advice and support might be available on the NHS Inform website or the NHS 24 App, or by calling NHS 24. So I would encourage people to make use of these services as many are already doing.”