Under-performance in Scotland’s emergency departments has become the “shocking – but unacceptable – norm”, the Scottish Tories have said.

Figures released on Tuesday by Public Health Scotland have shown 64.8% of attendances at A&E were seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours in the week up to August 18, down from 65.1% the previous week.

The Scottish Government aims for 95% of attendances to be seen within the four-hour period.

The target has not been hit since the early months of the pandemic, with the figure struggling to rise about 70% in recent years.

Despite the proportion of people waiting four hours increasing, the number of those waiting 12 hours or more fell from 1,258 to 1,174.

While the number waiting for eight hours was 3,012, down slightly from 3,047 the previous week.

Scottish Tory health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, described the figures as “appalling”.

“It remains the shocking – but unacceptable – norm that over a third of patients are forced to wait over four hours to be seen in an emergency situation all-year round,” he said.

“The brutal combination of the SNP’s dire workforce planning and Humza Yousaf’s flimsy recovery plan mean that it is now over four years since they met their own waiting-time target.

“Successive nationalist health secretaries have totally failed to get a grip on the crisis engulfing our health service – and both patients and staff are suffering as a result.

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“If patients and dedicated frontline staff are to be saved from a winter catastrophe on the SNP’s watch, then Neil Gray must take action now.”

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “The summer usually sees shorter waiting times at A&E but this summer waits have remained intolerably long.

“Under the SNP the NHS is teetering on the brink, staff are overwhelmed, and thousands are waiting far too long to be seen.

“We are about to enter the autumn, and waits are just as long as ever, we have to see urgent action from the SNP now to prevent a winter crisis in just a few months’ time.”

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “The pressures being felt by our A&E departments are not unique to Scotland with long delays impacted by pressures from across the wider health and social care system.

“Hospital bed occupancy continues to be a major factor and we have put in place our delayed discharge and hospital occupancy action plan to create the necessary capacity to deal with emerging pressures.

“We continue to work closely with boards to deliver sustained improvements.”