Ambulances carrying seriously ill or injured patients will be diverted from Medway to other Kent hospitals today as urgent improvements are made to A&E.

This morning, from 7am until midday, people who would normally be taken to the A&E department at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham will instead go to one of three other Kent hospitals, in Maidstone, Canterbury and Dartford.

The system will be in place the same time tomorrow, a move that hospital bosses hope will give them time to find more staff and carry out training to improve the department.

The move comes after the Medway Foundation Trust was found by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to be inadequate and unable to cope with the number of patients visiting its A&E department and the trust asked for support from neighbouring healthcare providers.

An NHS spokesman said: “Ambulance patients will instead be taken, according to clinical need, to either Maidstone Hospital, Darent Valley Hospital or the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

"Some patients, including paediatric, cardiac, maternity and abdominal aortic aneurysm (a swelling of the main blood vessel that leads away from the heart) will continue to be taken to the Medway Maritime Hospital.”

The move is being “carefully managed” so it is “unlikely” waiting times at the three hospitals will go over the four-hour government target, the spokesman added.

She said it was impossible to predict the number of additional patients that will arrive at the other three hospitals today and tomorrow, but added that NHS England has been working with all the trusts involved to ensure they have enough resources to cope.

As well as taking patients from Medway, the Gillingham hospital also caters for people living in Sittingbourne and on the Isle of Sheppey.

Staff at Medway will receive additional training and the trust will bring in experienced people to work in its accident and emergency department while the training is taking place.

An NHS spokesman said: “NHS England is working closely alongside the ambulance service and all local NHS hospitals and providers to implement this temporary measure whilst staff at Medway Maritime Hospital continue to work to improve services to patients.

"We are also working with partners across the healthcare system to put in place further measures to support staff at the hospital.

“We are also working with local authorities and community health teams to help to improve the flow of patients through the hospital. Ensuring the delivery of safe care to patients and the public in Kent and Medway is our absolute priority.”

Health minister Ben Gummer said: "We want the NHS to be the safest healthcare system in the world.

"Patients must be able to have confidence that they can get the service they need, when they need it.

"I welcome Medway NHS Foundation Trust's commitment to working closely with NHS England and local health partners, and producing long-term improvements for emergency and ambulance patients.

"This short-term change to Medway's A&E services is a difficult, but important step, for local health services to review how the Trust can improve the experience it offers to patients".