Kentish Express Ashford & District
Patients wait for hours
‘It was so full we had to stand or sit on the floor.’ A student has described her ordeal as waiting time figures show the East Kent NHS Trust is the worst performer in Kent - but Ashford’s MP rejects talk of a crisis
Health chiefs admit the William Harvey Hospital is facing “enormous pressure” this winter with patients reporting long waits on trolleys and being stuck in ambulances waiting to get in.
Film student Emily Aspinall, 21, from Folkestone, contacted the NHS 111 telephone service after suffering from palpitations and chest pains, and was told to go to A&E at the Ashford hospital because there is no out of hours GP service in Folkestone.
When she arrived at 1.30am on Thursday, January 5, the waiting room was packed, with patients being told they faced a six-hour wait.
Ms Aspinall said: “The wait was very uncomfortable, as one of my symptoms was uncontrollable shaking. The waiting room was very cold, making the shakes worse, and there were no blankets available.
“Every seat in the waiting room was taken for a good portion of my time there, and a number of patients had to stand or sit on the floor.
“The other patients in the waiting room were polite and patient, considering the way we were being left with no reassurance.”
Her experience has been echoed by Ashford business owner Andrew Court, who saw paramedics waiting for two hours to discharge patients at the doors of A&E.
Meanwhile patients have reported their experiences on social media, with one describing how she was left “out of sight and out of mind” and forgotten on a trolley for several hours. Earlier this month the Kentish Express reported on pensioner Tony Blunt’s nine-hour wait in the minor injuries unit at A&E after suffering a fractured wrist.
Then last week figures for patient numbers and waiting times from November last year were revealed, and showed the East Kent NHS Trust (EKHUFT) was the worst performing trust in Kent, with just 75.7% of patients