More than 130 people who attended accident and emergency departments at north-east hospitals last week waited longer than they should have for treatment.
Official statistics published yesterday showed that NHS Grampian failed to meet a waiting times target.
SNP ministers want 95% of all patients seen within four hours but NHS Grampian recorded a result of 92.9% during the week ending May 3.
This meant that 133 of 1,861 people attending A&E departments were subjected to a delay.
By contrast, 95.3% of 2,329 patients seeking treatment the week before were seen within four hours which meant 110 people waited longer than expected.
Figures for the week ending February 22 showed that 89.6% of 1,898 people who attended A&E departments were treated within four hours and 197 waited longer.
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: “Several complex cases can result in patients being in the department for longer.
“The very nature of unplanned care can result in weekly fluctuations.
“The most seriously unwell or injured will always be seen sooner and complex patients requiring input from more than one speciality require longer time.
“We are by no means complacent and our monthly statistics show that we are meeting or are just above the national standard.”
NHS Highland has consistently surpassed the 95% A&E target since February.
The figures showed 95.2% of 1,037 patients were seen within four hours during the weeks ending May 3 and April 26 which meant only 50 people waited longer than they had to.
Of the 959 patients treated in A&E departments during the week ending February 22, 95.2% were seen within four hours, resulting in a delay for 46 people.
From a Scotland-wide perspective, 93.5% of 24,982 A&E patients were seen within four hours during the week ending May 3.
In contrast, 92.7% of people were seen within the target time the week before, up from 86.1% in February.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visited Edinburgh Royal Infirmary yesterday to send a message of thanks to NHS A&E staff for their hard work.
“These weekly figures are the best we’ve had since we first started publishing them in March,” she said.
“But we still have work to do to reach our targets and make sure that everyone in Scotland gets discharged or admitted within four hours.
“Of course, weekly performance is likely to fluctuate and it is now crucial that, with on-going support from the Scottish Government, health boards sustain the improvement seen since the winter and move towards the world leading targets we have in place.”