Admissions surge forces emergency measures in Kent hospitals

Major incident procedures have been called at hospitals in east Kent after “an unprecedented number” of very unwell people have sought hospital care.

East Kent Hospital Trust said said these include “exceptionally unwell people” and that A&E services are particularly affected.

“This means we are continuing to ask people to not attend their local A&E department unless they are unwell, ” the trust said in a statement.

‘Safe patient care’

The statement said that these internal procedures are designed “to ensure the continuity of safe patient care”.

Dr Neil Martin, Medical Director, said: “The Trust has taken this action in order to ensure that patients continue to be looked after well and safely despite the exceptional demands on the service.”

Under these procedures mean doctors are asked to cancel any non-priority activities such as study leave or administrative tasks.

The Trust is also reviewing its outpatient clinics daily and where appropriate it is cancelling some of these. If a clinic is cancelled, patients will be informed directly, the trust said.

The statement did not give a reason for the surge in admissions, but reports suggest that patients are experiencing a range of ailments.