There was a slight improvement in waiting times at Scotland’s emergency departments over the last recorded week, latest figures show.

It comes a week after a shock report revealed some patients at Crosshouse Hospital were being forced to wait for more than a day in recliner chairs or in corridors before being seen.

Data from Public Health Scotland, released on Tuesday, shows 8,326 attendees at A&E departments faced a wait of more than four hours in the week up to July 31.

This was down from last week’s report of 8,955 patients under the same measurement.

Some 24,699 people attended emergency departments across Scotland during the week, meaning 66.3 per cent were seen and admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

A target set by the Scottish Government aims for 95 per cent of patients to be seen and subsequently discharged or admitted within this timeframe.

A further 2,542 patients spent more than eight hours waiting to be seen, while 1,041 attendees faced waits of more than 12 hours – a small drop.