THE NHS in Scotland is coping much better with winter pressures than last year, Health Secretary Alex Neil said.

Mr Neil spoke out after figures revealed a large drop in the number of patients spending 12 hours or more in hospital A&E departments.

In December 2012 there were 323 patients who had to wait this long in A&E, compared to just 42 in the same month in 2013 - a drop of 87%.