Some patients have had to wait up to 16 hours to get through a hospital's emergency department following a surge in visitors.

Medical staff across the county have faced busy times during the festive period.

Some callers to KentOnline have revealed they've waited hours from the point of being initially seen to being admitted for further treatment at Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham.

Two people told of how they were hanging around for 14 and 13 hours in A&E, while others also reported long waits.

A father-of-three with kidney failure had to wait 16 hours.

Richard Mothersole's ordeal began last Thursday after being rushed from his home in Leysdown on Sheppey.

His father William, 78, said: "It is shocking. A community nurse found him ill at his home and called a doctor who said my son needed to go straight to hospital.

"He got there by ambulance around 10.30pm but was still waiting for a bed 16 hours later although nurses attached him to a drip."

The 49-year-old, who has two sons and a daughter, is still in hospital.

The hospital says it's been a hectic time following the festive period, but despite waiting times for a beds being long, the majority of people are seen by staff within an hour of arrival.

Chief executive at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, James Devine, said: "Like many NHS organisations across the UK, our hospital is under significant pressure, but our staff are working very hard to make sure that we continue to provide the urgent and emergency care that our community needs over the winter period. We are proud of their extraordinary efforts to provide safe care to our patients in very challenging circumstances.

“We currently have a high number of very ill people attending our Emergency Department who require admission to hospital, which puts pressure on the availability of beds.

“Our Time to Treatment (waiting time) is good, with the majority of patients being seen within 60 minutes. Unfortunately however, a number of patients have faced longer waits for their onward treatment, specifically to be allocated a bed.

“One of the challenges we face is having a suitable place to discharge a patient to and this can sometimes cause a lack of flow throughout the hospital.

"We continue to work closely with our partners across Kent and Medway to make sure out of hospital care is ready when our patients are medically fit to be discharged.

“We are grateful to those in our community who have utilised other appropriate healthcare provision for minor ailments. We would ask for their continued support in using local pharmacists, GPs or calling NHS 111 where appropriate."

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