Weekly statistics showing how accident and emergency units are performing are to be published just weeks after the Health Secretary said such a move could amount to “political interference”.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats both claimed victory after it was announced the figures, made available to the public four times a year, will, from the beginning of next month, fall in line with the system used in England.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said the moves would increase NHS Scotland’s transparency and accountability.
The Dundee City East MSP added: “The new weekly Scottish A&E statistics will also contain more detail than the statistics that are published by NHS England.
“The official statistics division of the NHS in Scotland, ISD, already publish and analyse a huge amount of NHS performance data.”
Opposition politicians pointed out Ms Robison had not been as enthusiastic about the idea when Labour’s health spokeswoman, Jenny Marra, proposed it earlier this month.
At that time she asked Dundee-based Ms Marra: “Is she suggesting that we should politically interfere with the way in which official statistics are released?”
Ms Robison also previously said she believed publication “on a monthly basis is correct and that is what will happen”.
The announcement came just 24 hours before a health debate due at Holyrood today.
Ms Marra said: “This is change of policy has been forced through by Scottish Labour. Just this month Shona Robison was totally opposed to ending the secrecy in our NHS.
“The crisis in Scotland’s A&E departments has meant the SNP could no longer hide from the truth, which is they are letting our NHS down.”
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Jim Hume added: “The Scottish Government’s U-turn on the weekly publication of A&E waiting times shows that the SNP is out of excuses and out of touch.”
Meanwhile, Ms Robison has demanded Jim Murphy apologises for being “caught red-handed fiddling NHS figures” on the number of cancelled operations.
The Scottish Labour leader had attacked the Scottish Government for not making public the number of postponed operations, claiming the rate of cancellations in the Glasgow area is significantly higher than south of the border.
However, Ms Robison said the Labour MP had “vastly inflated” the number of procedures which had been cancelled by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and had deleted posts on social media after realising he had been “exposed”.
A Labour spokesman said: “The real issue here is about transparency.”