Sixty-five people in Fife died waiting for vital social care support to start, shock new figures have revealed.
An investigation by campaigner Gordon Aikman also discovered that one patient in Angus had to wait almost eight months before being given the life- changing package they were promised.
Motor Neurone Disease patient Mr Aikman called on the Scottish Government to take action to resolve the “cruel crisis” he blamed on council budget cuts.
The Kirkcaldy man, who is supported by carers three times a day, said: “Behind these figures are real people with stories of desperation, misery and indignity.
“Imagine it was your mum or your son waiting months for the help they need to live their life.”
Ten people died awaiting the start of a care package in Dundee last year, but the city council’s figures are comparably better than most other local authorities with the single longest wait for help 32 days and 59 hours not being met.
Angus failed to provide 501 hours of social care, Perth and Kinross missed out on 648 but Fife was the worst locally by not meeting 846.5 hours. Neither Angus nor Perth and Kinross provided figures for the numbers of deaths.
The kingdom had the second longest time an individual had to wait for help, at 174 days, with one person in Perth and Kinross going without care for 154 days.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told journalists she announced more than a year ago that no terminally ill person should be charged for care in the last six months of life. She added that if councils were not adhering to the guidance she would legislate to force them to.
Sandy Riddell, Fife Council’s director of health and social care, said: “Fife has been developing a care at home contract which has dedicated blocked hours to enable and accelerate the matching of services to service users’ needs.
“We are concerned that the article states that hundreds of Scots are dying for care. We make every effort to support people who require palliative care.”
All other local councils were asked to comment.