Humza Yousaf has been accused of being "missing in action" as waiting times at A&E departments in Scotland hit the worst monthly level on record.
Labour accused the health minister of plunging "almost every aspect of our NHS into chaos just before winter starts to bite".
A Scottish Government target aims to ensure 95 per cent of attendees at A&E are seen and subsequently admitted or discharged within four hours.
But figures from Public Health Scotland out today showed that just 69.9 per cent of the 128,830 attendances at emergency departments were seen within the timeframe.
Some 4,483 people in July waited longer than 12 hours at A&E, while 11,884 waited longer than eight hours.
But Yousaf insisted Scotland’s emergency departments continued to perform better than those elsewhere in the UK.
"The pandemic has presented the NHS with the greatest challenge of its 74-year existence. Despite this, Scotland continues to have the best performing A&Es in the UK, outperforming those England, Wales and Northern Ireland for seven years,” he said.
"Occupancy and staffing pressures remain high across emergency departments and continue to have an impact on the delivery of services.
"Despite this, almost two-thirds of patients are being seen within four hours of arrival.
"As we enter the winter period, people should consider whether their condition is an emergency, such as a stroke, heart attack or major trauma, before going to A&E."
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour health spokeswoman, said: "Scotland’s Health Minister Humza Yousaf is a record breaker – worst A&E stats on record, highest level of delayed discharge, longest waiting lists – he’s broken all the records.
"That we are facing the worst ever A&E statistics on record for July is both shameful and deeply alarming.
"The SNP’s missing in action Health Minister has plunged almost every aspect of our NHS into chaos just before winter starts to bite.
"Make no mistake, this incompetent Health Secretary’s failure to support our NHS and those who work in it will lead to lives being lost this winter.
"There is no simple fix to this crisis – the SNP has failed almost every aspect of our NHS.
"The people of Scotland should not have to pay the price of SNP failure."
Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said the figures will be “frightening for patients and demoralising for dedicated frontline staff”.
“In fact, July’s figures show that things are getting even worse on our emergency wards,” he added.
“It’s completely unacceptable that, at the height of summer, more than three in 10 patients had to wait longer than four hours to be seen, because we know excess delays lead inevitably to avoidable deaths.
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