Scotland's hospitals are treating increasing numbers of patients despite a reduction in the total amount of beds over the last decade, new figures have revealed.

Between 2004/05 and 2013/14 the number of people who were discharged after treatment increased by almost 23%, with available beds falling by just over 7% during this period.

Health Secretary Alex Neil said: "These statistics show us that Scotland's NHS is continuing to evolve as it treats more people than ever before."

Consultants saw a total of 4,634,362 outpatients last year, up by 3.1% from 2004/05.

Of those outpatients seen last year, a total of 1,508,498 people were new patients, with the number of new outpatient attendances having increased by 13% from 2004/05.

Meanwhile, there were 1,524,917 cases where patients were discharged from hospital after treatment, a rise of 22.9% from the total in 2004/05, according to official figures.

Just over a third (36.4%) of these were people who had been admitted for emergency treatment while 34% had been routine inpatients and 29.6% had been day patients who did not require to stay in hospital overnight.

The number of hospital beds was recorded as being 16,315 in 2013/14, a drop of 7.1% from the 17,559 beds available in 2004/05.

At the same time the average length of hospital stays has been getting shorter, with patients being treated for an average period of 4.4 days last year, compared to 5.2 days in 2009/10.

The report pointed out that "over the last ten years, the number of beds in Scottish hospitals, as elsewhere in the UK, has been gradually declining", attributing this to changing medical practices such as the increasing use of day surgery as well as more elderly people being cared for either in their own home or in nursing homes.

Reducing the amount of time patients spend in hospital has also been key priority for NHS boards in recent years, as shorter stays are better for patients and reduce the risk of them contracting hospital infections such as MRSA.

Mr Neil said: "Offering older people the support and care they need to stay in their own home for as long as possible is a key priority for the Scottish Government.

"We want to avoid any unnecessary hospital stays, however when this isn't possible we must ensure that a patient's hospital stay is as short as possible.

"While these figures show that we have achieved much, they also remind us that there is no room for complacency and reinforce our commitment to support local partnerships to reshape support services and deliver the highest quality of care to our older citizens."