The NHS in Scotland is “coping much better” with winter pressures than it did last year, the health secretary has said.
Alex Neil said changes made as a result of a £50million action plan had helped bring about the improvement.
But he warned against complacency, saying the worst of winter problems “could be yet to come”.
He spoke out as new figures showed that last Monday there were just five hospital wards that had to be shut because of the norovirus – compared to 13 on January 27 last year.
Flu rates are also at expected levels for this time of year, with 8.4 GP consultations per 100,000 people.
Last winter was a busy period for the health service, with 323 people having to wait more than 12 hours in hospital.
In February last year the health secretary announced an overhaul for emergency and urgent healthcare services to try to improve treatment times and patient care.
Mr Neil said: “NHS boards have to be ready to manage potential increases in demand over the winter period and last year we saw increased pressures on our hospitals in the peak of winter.
“That is why we introduced our three-year £50million emergency care action plan, so that health boards can put in place a number of new measures to ensure we can cope with the added strain that winter can bring.
“Over £9million of this money has already been released to health boards to support their planning, which is triple the amount given to boards for winter planning last year.”
He added: “Thanks to improvements made through the action plan, I am encouraged that so far this winter NHS boards are reporting they are coping much better and that performance in particular in A&E stood up well over the Christmas period.
“However, January has brought additional pressures for the health service, and there is not a shred of complacency either in government or the NHS.”
Mr Neil was speaking after visiting a new discharge unit, set up at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, which works to help ensure patients have the support they need to leave hospital and return home.
Since it was established, 80% of the patients referred to it had been discharged in seven days or less.