Canterbury hospital junior doctors moved over lack of training

A hospital has been told to transfer more than half of its junior doctors to ensure patient safety because of a lack of consultants to train them.

Health Education England said 42 out of 76 trainee doctors at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital should be moved.

East Kent Hospitals trust said some emergency services will be affected.

The junior doctors are to be transferred to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford and the QEQM in Margate, also run by the trust.

The East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has admitted some emergency care would be affected at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital over the next few months, particularly in acute stroke care and services for elderly patients with serious illnesses such as pneumonia.

Trainees 'not supported'

Julie Screaton, Health Education England's regional director for London and the South East, said: "Quality supervision of junior doctors is key to ensure patient safety.

"The lack of consultant cover meant that trainees were not adequately supported in their clinical practice and were consequently unable to receive the education and training for which they were placed in the trust."

A spokesman for the trust said about a quarter of those attending the Kent and Canterbury's urgent care centre would be taken to the trust's hospitals in Ashford and Margate instead.

He said: "The changes will be temporary and will not be immediate, to allow time for the trust to develop its plans and test them to make sure patients will be safe and well looked after."

The Trust was put into special measures in September 2014.

The latest report by the Care Quality Commission in December 2016 concluded the trust "requires improvement", but recommended it be taken out of special measures.