Kent hospital's A&E delays 'due to minor ailments'

Many patients turning up at the hospital's A&E unit could have been treated by pharmacies and GPs

Patients at a Kent hospital have been facing a wait of up to 10 hours to be admitted on to wards because of people seeking treatment for minor ailments.

The Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate said many could be dealt with by pharmacies and local GPs.

Peter Orsman, an A&E matron at the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, said some patients saw the hospital as an "easy option".

But he added that the hospital would never turn anyone away.

Mr Orsman said some patients had been attended by ambulance crews first, who had given them "good advice", only for them to then get a taxi to the hospital.

"It's putting more pressure on A&E, and taking up the ambulance service in the first place.

"These are people that will be seen by a doctor after a wait, and then will go home again," he said.