'Humiliated' patients treated by doctors in Costa Coffee due to NHS overcrowding

Stricken patients were pictured lying in a makeshift ward in a Costa coffee chain - laying bare the crisis facing NHS hospitals.

Doctors treated people in beds wheeled into the coffee chain’s branch at the William Harvey in Ashford, Kent. Branded “humiliating” by health campaigners, images showed the main seating area of the cafe was blocked off with screens and a security guard was posted outside.

Photographs show elderly patients on beds in the space – highlighting the extreme measures being taken to cope with demand. The government’s health department described the situation as “unacceptable” and says it expects hospital bosses to take “urgent action to address this”.

READ MORE: Ruth Langsford shares 'uncomfortable' morning with 'potentially life-saving' test

READ MORE: Boy, 7, tragically dies two years after complaining of severe tummy ache

A relative of one patient, who asked not to be named, accused the East Kent Hospitals Trust, which runs the William Harvey, of “leaving people to rot”.

And Ken Rogers, chairman of Concern for Health in East Kent, has branded the situation "horrendous". He said: "I can't believe I'm hearing about it, because it's absolutely disgusting for patients to be treated this way."

Ashford MP Sojan Joseph described the use of “corridor care” as an “unfortunate and unacceptable consequence of a decade and a half of cuts to NHS services”.

In August, 1,311 people faced waits of at least 12 hours for a bed on a ward at East Kent Hospitals – up 116 on the same month last year and the third highest in England.

Tracey Fletcher, Chief Executive, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our priority is to see all our patients as quickly and safely as possible in our emergency department. Despite the hard work of our staff, it is sometimes necessary to care for some of our patients in the department’s corridor.

"We are working hard to stop this. However, on Tuesday due to significant demand for emergency services, a small number of patients were temporarily cared for within the coffee area, while we arranged for emergency patients to be diverted to other hospitals within the area.

“Despite the area being screened off to maintain the privacy of patients, we know that this is unacceptable and we are very sorry to patients who have been cared for in this way. This will not be allowed to happen again.

“We are working hard to reduce the time patients wait in our emergency department and are investing £16.2m to improve and expand the Same Day Emergency Care Unit and ensure that our patients receive the care and experience they deserve.”