Locals believe long A&E delays at Medway Maritime Hospital and due to population crisis

Patients at Medway Maritime Hospital last week were left furious after experiencing delays that left them waiting up to 16 hours in the emergency department before being seen.

This comes after a surge in visitors at Gillingham’s hospital during and just after the busy festive period. 

On the Wednesday evening, Melanie Butler found her 83-year-old mother on the floor of her home after experiencing a fall. After a 90-minute wait for an ambulance crew, whom she praised greatly, they arrived at A&E around 11pm. 

By 9am the next morning, she was still in RAU in a bay before being moved to a corridor and then back to a bay. Eventually she was stationed in Majors at 1pm, where she remained until 1pm on Friday. 

The 83-year-old sat in Lister Ward, waiting to be placed on a suitable ward, for days and has only recently been allowed home. 

Melanie said: “As we all know, with an increase of houses in the area, this poor hospital and staff with continue to fire fight the constant demand. 

“I’ve watched the staff do their amazing best, listen to people start fights in the corridor taking nurses away from patients to stop the breakout.

“The council should hang their heads in shame to allow the growth of the area at a dangerous cost to the overall infrastructure of the community.”

Former hospital reception worker, Sallie Fairbairn, voiced her concerns about the increase of housing development sites in the area, which she believes could cause Medway Maritime Hospital to experience these delays more often. 

“Adding even more houses, causing the population to rise even further, is eventually going to cause the whole system to collapse!” she said. 

“Whilst working at Medway Hospital throughout the 12 years it changed dramatically, A&E waiting times especially increased. When I first started the atmosphere used to be more relaxed which meant staff had more time with patients, but as time has progressed that’s changed. 

“Due to the increase in population in the area covered by Medway hospital it has made it impossible for it to cope with all the demands! I personally think that we need more GP’s to take the pressure off A&E, that would mean more appointments for minor cases and less reliance on the hospital. 

“Medway council needs to take all of this into consideration when considering granting planning permission to proposals such as Pump Lane!” she added. 

This December alone the Emergency Department saw over 1600 more patients than last December, a 16% increase, which saw the hospital struggle.

James Devine, Chief Executive at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, apologised for any discomfort caused during the wait and any inconvenience caused.  

He said: “We don’t take this lightly and are concentrating on improving patient flow throughout the hospital so that patients get home to their families quicker, freeing up beds for new arrivals and reducing pressure and delays in our Emergency Department.

“We are continuing to look at how we can make the most efficient use of our beds and have been working closely with our partners across Kent and Medway to make sure out-of-hospital care is in place for when our patients are fit to be discharged.

“As ever, our focus remains on improving and consistently providing the level of emergency care which our community expects and deserves.”