WAITING times in accident and emergency departments in Scotland are the second-worst on record, with almost a third of patients having to wait longer than four hours.

Just under 70 per cent of A&E patients were seen within four hours in the week ending December 12, according to the latest NHS Scotland weekly figures.

A total of 7,285 people waited longer than four hours before being seen, including 1,803 who had to wait more than eight hours, and 598 who were left waiting for more than 12 hours.