Damning official statistics also revealed one in 12 hospital beds lost to bed-blocking.

There is a shortfall of more than 430 consultants and over 2,789 nurses and midwives north of the Border, figures reveal.

Consultant vacancies stood at 7.7 per cent in September, up from 7 per cent in the same month of last year.

There has also been a 70.8 per cent rise in consultant posts vacant for more than six months - up to 254.

Almost one in six (15.9 per cent) of all clinical radiology consultant posts were unfilled.

The were over 59 full time posts at the end of September, of which over 45 vacant for at least six months.

Nursing vacancies have increased, too - 4.5 per cent in September, compared with 4.3 per cent in the same period in 2016.

More than 826 nursing posts have been empty for three months or more.

Meanwhile, it emerged the problem of bed-blocking cost the NHS more than half a million bed days last year.

Two years ago Health Secretary Shona Robison vowed the issue of patients left languishing on wards when they are ready to leave would be completely abolished.

Latest figures - published by the NHS's Information and Statistics Division (ISD) - also show that in September, more than 550 operations were cancelled for "capacity or non-clinical" reasons.

Patients whose discharge was delayed accounted for 532,423 occupied bed days across the NHS in Scotland in 2016-17.

Over the course of the year around 1 in 12 (8.2 per cent) occupied beds in Scotland's hospitals were because of delayed discharges, the data showed.

Critics said the NHS had been left in a "complete and utter shambles by the SNP".

Scottish Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: "No wonder NHS staff feel overworked and undervalued - the support they should be getting simply isn't there.

"It was Nicola Sturgeon as Health Secretary who slashed training posts for nurses and midwives, and cut funding for medical students. This failure lies at her door."

Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs challenged ministers to produce a "meaningful plan" to tackle bed-blocking adding: "The SNP government has made next to no improvement in this area.

"On a human level, it creates sheer misery for thousands upon thousands of patients who are fit to leave but have nowhere to go.

"We keep hearing of funding announcements and system overhauls, but nothing seems to change."

Yesterday's data showed a record number of people employed across the health service.

At the end of September 2017, full time staff had risen to 139,492 the fifth year in a row it has increased.

But there was a slowdown in jobs growth in the NHS, falling from 1.8 per cent to 0.6 per cent over the period.

Theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said: "Across both acute and community settings, there are simply too few nursing staff.

"Nurses and health care support workers wanting to do their very best for patients are too often coming up against the reality of vacancies in the workforce.

"Nursing morale is low, and teams are struggling to recruit and retain the staff they need."

Ms Robison said there had a significant 11 per cent fall in the overall number of patients delayed last month with decreases throughout the year.

She added: "We're taking firm action to ensure we recruit, develop and retain the next generation of health service workers.

"Just this week, Ucas figures showed the highest-ever number of acceptances to study nursing at Scottish universities, with an 8% increase compared to a 3 per cent decrease in England.

"In Scotland we have retained bursaries for our nursing and midwifery students as well as making sure their tuition is free - in contrast the UK Government has scrapped bursaries and brought in tuition fees for nursing students in England."