Accident and Emergency waiting time target met

The Scottish government said the figures were the best in June since 2011

More than 95% of patients attending accident and emergency departments across Scotland were seen within four hours, according to the latest figures.

At 95.7%, the figure - which relates to June - is the best monthly performance for A&E departments since July 2014.

A total of 139,300 people were either admitted to hospital, transferred or discharged in the period.

The Scottish government said Scotland's A&E departments were outperforming those elsewhere in the UK.

'Rightly deserved'

The Scottish government recommends that health authorities should assess, treat or discharge patients attending accident and emergency departments within four hours.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said the figures were the best for the month of June for five years: "Today's figures show that Scotland's A&E departments are continuing to build on the improvements we have seen over the last year."

She added: "Nationally, our core accident and emergency performance has remained better than elsewhere in the UK for the last 15 months of published data, from March 2015 to May 2016. And we are continually working to retain and build on this improvement to ensure patients get the service they rightly deserve."

During the four-hour window patients must be assessed, transferred, admitted or discharged

The statistics cover treatment and discharge at Scotland's 30 large "core" 24-hour A&E departments.

Also published were performance statistics for the week ending 24 July, which showed that 94.4% of patients were seen within four hours.