Medway Maritime Hospital: Ambulances diverted away from A&E

Ambulances have been diverted away from a failing hospital's A&E department after it was found it "could not cope".

The decision to send patients away from the Medway Maritime Hospital, to elsewhere in Kent between 07:00 and 12:00 BST, was made following a Care Quality Commission inspection.

This was to allow "breathing space" for the department and extra training.

In Prime Minister's Questions earlier David Cameron pledged to "invest and work on the hospital".

Ambulances were sent to either Maidstone Hospital, Darent Valley Hospital, in Dartford, or the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

The diversion will also operate between the same hours on Thursday.

Rochester and Strood MP Kelly Tolhurst raised the problems at the hospital during Prime Minister's Questions

The hospital was already in special measures after being rated inadequate in July 2013.

During Prime Minister's Questions, the MP for Rochester and Strood, Kelly Tolhurst, asked: "Can the Prime Minister assure me that all will be done to turn things around at our hospital so my constituents can have a fully functioning A&E swiftly and urgently?"

Mr Cameron responded the hospital has "faced difficulties, but what we've done in these circumstances is instead of trying to push that under the carpet is to send in a team to turn it around and improve its performance and more work needs to be done.

"The pledge I can make is that we'll continue investing in that hospital and continue working on that hospital to make sure it can provide the service that her constituents deserve."

Medway Maritime Hospital chief executive Lesley Dwyer said things had not "gone wrong" at the hospital.

She told BBC South East Today the facility had been constrained by the numbers of patients "not exiting the organisation" but they were halfway through an improvement plan.