NICOLA Sturgeon has apologised after pensioners in Fife were forced to queue in sub-zero temperatures only to miss out on coronavirus vaccinations because appointments had been "double booked".
According to reports an elderly woman was reported to have collapsed due to suspected hypothermia while queuing in Lochgelly.
A computer software glitch that resulted in appointment slots being double booked was blamed for the chaos.
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Asked about the issues at the Scottish Government's coronavirus briefing, the First Minister said: "I'm really sorry about what happened in Fife, (NHS) Fife are really sorry - it shouldn't happen."
She explained that the problems arose after NHS Fife began using a new booking system that will be rolled out across all mainland health boards by the end of the week.
"That led to a bit of a rebooking issue that meant that some of their clinics were effectively double-booked, which meant appointment slots were too short and people were queuing when they shouldn't have been, and obviously - given the weather conditions yesterday - that was particularly regrettable," Sturgeon said.
Sturgeon said she understood patients would feel "annoyed" by the problems, but urged people to "just bear in mind health how hard health boards are working right now to get this programme delivered as quickly as possible".
She added: "These teams out there are performing a monumental task right now and they're doing it really well.
"So if things go wrong on any given day - as I'm afraid, from time to time, they might - we are sorry about that, but we are trying to do this as quickly, as fast and as efficiently as we possibly can."
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NHS Fife's chief executive Carol Potter has also issued a statement describing the queues faced by mostly elderly patients as "entirely unacceptable".
She promised those patients who missed out on Monday that they'd get a new appointment as quickly as possible.
Potter said: "I want to offer our most sincere apologies to those who had to wait in significant queues at some of our community vaccination clinics today.
"This was entirely unacceptable and we are working with our colleagues in NHS National Services Scotland to understand how this scheduling error occurred and ensure that it does not happen again.
"We know that local people are incredibly keen to get vaccinated as quickly as possible against Covid-19 and we have prioritised prompt actions to expand the capacity and quicken the flow of patients through our clinics."
Mark Ruskell, the Scottish Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said there were still significant questions to answer.
He said: “The Health Secretary has failed to fully explain why Fife in particular has been so badly impacted by problems with the vaccine rollout, and why lessons don’t seem to have been learned from the flu jag rollout.
"However, it is clear that Fife NHS did not get on-board quickly enough with the national booking system and that IT problems have resulted. It is extremely disappointing that the tremendous work being carried out by the vaccinators is being overshadowed by these management failures. It’s vital this situation is resolved at once.”
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