Mum stabbed
A mother-of-four whose body was found at the scene of a burned out car was stabbed.
The details were revealed in a post-mortem report at the opening of an inquest into the death of Donna Eastwood.
The 26-year-old’s body was found when firefighters were called to a burning car in Wilmington at 6.20am on October 18.
Police arrested Joshua Caird, 26, of Almond Road, Stone, the next day and charged him with her murder on October 20.
He was remanded in custody and will enter a plea to the charge on February 9. His trial is due to take place on June 22. Patients at Medway hospital are waiting up to 35 hours to be treated in A&E, as another damning report into the troubled NHS trust is published.
The Gillingham hospital has been branded the worst in the country as it remains in special measures following an investigation into high death rates in summer 2013.
The latest inspection by the Care Quality Commission found some were waiting up to two hours just to be initially assessed – despite being set a target time of 15 minutes.
The latest report, published this week, found patients are not getting safe and appropriate care.
Between September 3 and 24, of 6,525 patients who attended A&E, 300 experienced delays of more than 15 minutes to get an initial assessment.
Inspectors said these were down to poor management, confusion and a lack of plans for people.
The longest wait recorded last year happened in October and was 34 hours and 54 minutes.
Inspectors also found one elderly patient with a poten- tially life-threatening gastric disorder had been waiting two hours in a holding bay without intravenous fluids or an initial check-over.
A patient with a fractured hip, who arrived by ambulance, was not given any kind of physical examination for three hours.
Urgent conditions have now been imposed, including the 15-minute assessment time, ensuring enough qualified clinical staff are employed, and improved record-keeping.
In response, the Medway NHS Foundation Trust said it takes patient safety and patient experience very seriously and has made a number of organisational changes and actions since the visit to address the issues in the report.