{"id":35055,"date":"2025-09-18T10:47:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T10:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=35055"},"modified":"2025-09-18T11:23:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:23:27","slug":"trust-apologises-for-treating-ae-patients-in-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=35055","title":{"rendered":"Trust apologises for treating A&amp;E patients in cafe"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 jdlrvG\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-c4820dd1-0 cYDsPh\">\n<div class=\"sc-c4820dd1-1 jZKXfd\">36 minutes ago<\/p>\n<p><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-2 sc-28fdc07f-5 sc-28fdc07f-6 dlYDVt diMtqv hnXVJa\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-0 Fzgas\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-1 jjqoAk\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" data-action=\"save\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-2 sc-28fdc07f-5 sc-28fdc07f-6 hyMuGj gQfYWA jZyXEp\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-0 Fzgas\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-1 jjqoAk\">Save<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors\" class=\"sc-c4820dd1-11 bxdaHR\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sc-c4820dd1-7 dbQBRo\">Craig Buchan<\/span><span data-testid=\"undefined-role-location\" class=\"sc-c4820dd1-8 evcqcz\">South East<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-2 sc-28fdc07f-5 sc-28fdc07f-6 dlYDVt diMtqv hnXVJa\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-0 Fzgas\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-1 jjqoAk\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" data-action=\"save\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-2 sc-28fdc07f-5 sc-28fdc07f-6 hyMuGj gQfYWA jZyXEp\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-0 Fzgas\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-1 jjqoAk\">Save<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 kSquvq\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-86c96223-1 evkFpM\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2d536550-9475-11f0-bc01-a3a35aa734ac.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Getty Images A blue sign by a roadside, on a grass hill. The sign reads Welcome to William Harvey Hospital and has directions to emergency departments and car parks underneath.\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi\" \/><span class=\"sc-86c96223-2 hqrvRC\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 jdlrvG\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">A hospital boss has apologised after a Kent emergency department resorted to using its cafe as a makeshift ward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">A&amp;E staff at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford decided to screen off the building&#8217;s cafe on Tuesday to create space for treating patients.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said the move was due to &#8220;significant demand&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Trust chief executive Tracey Fletcher said: &#8220;We know this is unacceptable and we are very sorry to patients who have been cared for in this way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 jdlrvG\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">A &#8220;small number&#8221; of patients were looked after in the cafe until emergency patients could be diverted to other hospitals in Kent, the trust said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Labour MP for Ashford Sojan Joseph said it was &#8220;not acceptable&#8221; to use corridors to care for patients but said staff worked  &#8220;incredibly hard under very difficult circumstances caused by a decade and a half of cuts&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">However, he said senior management across East Kent Hospitals &#8220;must do more to step up and improve standards across all levels of care&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 jdlrvG\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Ken Rodgers, chairman of Concern for Health in East Kent, said: &#8220;This type of patient experience will never end unless there is serious investment in east Kent instead of sticking plaster-type cures.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Acute care in east Kent will &#8220;eventually collapse&#8221; without intervention, he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">He said he had written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, inviting him to visit the area&#8217;s hospitals and calling for further investment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for a comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 jdlrvG\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Ms Fletcher said it was &#8220;sometimes necessary&#8221; to treat patients in corridors despite staff&#8217;s efforts, but that use of the cafe, first reported by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kentonline.co.uk\/\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 jZoZnB\">Kent Online<\/a>, &#8220;will not be allowed to happen again&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\"><b id=\"the-trust-was\" class=\"sc-d16436d-0 kPzeuB\">The trust was<\/b> <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cq8eqxlypv7o\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 jZoZnB\">ranked 101 out of 134<\/a> in a league table of trusts&#8217; performance that NHS England published earlier this month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"links-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 cnKFtO\">\n<div class=\"sc-666b6d83-0 sc-c4fb5674-0 hlYJSj fSRnmF\"><span data-testid=\"links-title\" class=\"sc-c4fb5674-2 kXSkGX\">More on this story<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"links-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 cnKFtO\">\n<div class=\"sc-666b6d83-0 sc-c4fb5674-0 hlYJSj jbTOZE\"><span data-testid=\"links-title\" class=\"sc-c4fb5674-2 kXSkGX\">Related internet links<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>36 minutes agoShareSaveCraig BuchanSouth EastShareSaveGetty ImagesA hospital boss has apologised after a Kent emergency department resorted to using its cafe as a makeshift ward.A&#038;E staff at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford decided to screen off the building&#8217;s cafe on Tuesday to create space for treating patients.East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said the move was due to &#8220;significant demand&#8221;.Trust chief executive Tracey Fletcher said: &#8220;We know this is unacceptable and we are very sorry to patients who have been cared for in this way.&#8221;A &#8220;small number&#8221; of patients were looked after in the cafe until emergency patients could be diverted to other hospitals in Kent, the trust said.Labour MP for Ashford Sojan Joseph said it was &#8220;not acceptable&#8221; to use corridors to care for patients but said staff worked &#8220;incredibly hard under very difficult circumstances caused by a decade and a half of cuts&#8221;.However, he said senior management across East Kent Hospitals &#8220;must do more to step up and improve standards across all levels of care&#8221;.Ken Rodgers, chairman of Concern for Health in East Kent, said: &#8220;This type of patient experience will never end unless there is serious investment in east Kent instead of sticking plaster-type cures.&#8221;Acute care in east Kent will &#8220;eventually collapse&#8221; without intervention, he added.He said he had written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, inviting him to visit the area&#8217;s hospitals and calling for further investment.The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for a comment.Ms Fletcher said it was &#8220;sometimes necessary&#8221; to treat patients in corridors despite staff&#8217;s efforts, but that use of the cafe, first reported by Kent Online, &#8220;will not be allowed to happen again&#8221;.The trust was ranked 101 out of 134 in a league table of trusts&#8217; performance that NHS England published earlier this month.More on this storyRelated internet links<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34940,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35055"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35059,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35055\/revisions\/35059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}