WAITING times for operations at Scots hospitals have hit an all-time low.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said that by the end of 2007 all patients referred to consultants had their first appointment within 18 weeks.

And all those who needed some kind of procedure received it within the same time frame.

The only exceptions were those who were too ill for surgery, those who did not turn up, those who declined reasonable appointment dates and 98 whose treatment was deemed highly specialised or of low clinical priority.

Ms Sturgeon said that on December 31 there were 67,000 people waiting for hospital procedures, compared to a high of 114,000 in 2004.

The number of people waiting for their first outpatient appointment was just under 160,000 - down from high of 200,000.

As reported in late editions of last night's Evening Times, Ms Sturgeon congratulated NHS Scotland for meeting the waiting times targets, describing it as a "tremendous achievement".

She said: "This reflects a significant performance change across a wide range of hospital services improving patients' experience of hospital care."

She also said the proportion of cancer sufferers who started treatment within two months of referral to hospital crossed the 90% mark last September for the first time.