Worried patients and visitors have described conditions at a struggling A&E as “hopeless” after hospital bosses declared a critical incident amid surging winter illnesses.
The emergency was triggered at the QEQM in Margate as flu and norovirus cases rise, piling “immense pressure” on staff and services, as concerned MPs say the hospital has been hit by a “perfect storm”.
The QEQM in Margate declared a critical incident yesterday, due to “sustained pressures”
As part of the response, visitors have been barred from some wards to help curb the spread of infection – a move which has reignited calls for a third emergency department in east Kent at Canterbury.
Today, patients and their loved ones have told KentOnline about their experiences inside the hospital.
Karen Partner, who has been visiting a 94-year-old friend at QEQM over the past week, said she was alarmed to see no one wearing masks, despite the outbreak of infectious illnesses.
She also found her elderly friend, who had spent 48 hours in A&E, shivering and unable to reach the water placed beside her bed.
“It feels absolutely hopeless in there – it’s gone too far,” Ms Partner said.
Patients and visitors described the conditions at the A&E at the QEQM in Margate as “hopeless”
“I found myself saying, ‘Please, can you help?’ To anybody I could find.
“I would probably be deemed as being a nuisance, but she deserves better than that. It’s barbaric.”
Following the announcement that visitors will now only be allowed in critical care and maternity units, Ms Partner fears her friend will no longer be safe at the hospital.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said a sustained high admission rate, combined with large numbers of patients suffering from winter illnesses and respiratory viruses, led it to declare the critical incident.
The latest available NHS England data shows there were 31 flu cases across the trust’s hospitals on January 4 – slightly higher than the same date last year.
KentOnline has previously revealed how patients were treated in the hospital cafe at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford
Eight cases of norovirus were also recorded on that day, compared to none on the same date in 2025. These figures are higher than elsewhere in Kent and may have changed significantly over the past nine days.
One patient, who attended Margate’s emergency department on Thursday, described sitting in a packed waiting room while “writhing” in pain as staff “just walked past you”.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “I was being sick every 20 minutes in front of a room full of people.
“People just walked past. They just glanced at you. They didn’t offer any assistance and it was hours of being in there.”
She described seeing whole corridors lined with people, and was “not really surprised” to hear that the hospital had declared a critical incident.
East Kent Hospitals declared a critical incident at the QEQM in Margate on Monday
The Herne Bay resident was diagnosed with kidney stones and discharged after spending 12 hours in A&E.
She believes reopening an emergency department at the Kent & Canterbury Hospital would ease pressure on Margate.
“It definitely needs to open. If we had Canterbury, that’s where we would have gone,” she said.
Earlier this month, campaigners declared “enough was enough” and east Kent needed a third A&E.
Figures suggest more than 14,000 emergency patients will have been left waiting 12 hours or more for a bed on a ward at the William Harvey in Ashford and QEQM in Margate in 2025. That compares to just 36 across the whole of 2019.
Ken Rogers, chair of Concern for Health in East Kent, has written to the Prime Minister, saying: “Kent & Canterbury Hospital once provided excellent, life‑saving care for the whole region. It can – and must – do so again.”
“Restoring full acute and A&E services is essential to ending corridor care, reducing dangerous delays, and giving east Kent the safe, dignified healthcare it deserves.”
Sir Roger Gale, MP for Herne Bay and Sandwich, says the QEQM has been hit by a “perfect storm”
Sir Roger Gale, MP for Herne Bay and Sandwich, says declaring a critical incident was the “only reasonable thing to do” given the circumstances the hospital is in.
“They have novovirus, which has taken out patients and staff,” he explained.
“I had to go to hospital over Christmas, and it was heaving, but it was heaving with a lot of people who did not need to be in A&E.
“We know there are a lot of people in hospital who do not need to be there.
“Unfortunately, with the way society has developed, there is nowhere to put people who don’t need a hospital but do need looking after.
“It’s a perfect storm.”
The Conservative says that having spoken to hospital bosses, there are plans to ease the pressure by reconfiguring the space at QEQM to streamline the system.
“But that won’t help with admission of people who don’t need to be there,” he added.
“There is a problem, it won’t last forever, but while it does, if you do not need A&E – do not go.”
At present, the nearest alternative emergency department to the QEQM for many east Kent residents is the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
Ashford MP Sojan Joseph said the situation at the QEQM is concerning
The town’s MP, Sojan Joseph, a former senior nurse, said: “The situation at QEQM is concerning.
“However, I know from previous experience of working in the NHS that this is something that does occasionally happen during the winter months, so I trust the dedicated staff across East Kent Hospitals to make the correct calls and navigate through this difficult period,” the Labour MP said.
“We can also assist the staff, as patients and members of the public, by ensuring that the strain on hospitals is reduced, by only using 999 and A&E in cases of emergencies and 111 for other needs.
“The government is investing more in urgent care centres and I will continue to work with ministers to see services at the William Harvey and East Kent improve.”
East Kent Hospitals’ chief nursing and midwifery officer, Sarah Hayes. Picture: Sarah Hayes/X
Sarah Hayes, chief nursing and midwifery officer at East Kent Hospitals, said in a statement yesterday: “Our teams are working tirelessly under immense pressure to provide safe, compassionate care to every patient who comes through our doors.
“We are doing everything possible to increase capacity for urgent and emergency care and would like to thank our staff, patients, and the public for their continued support, understanding, and patience during this challenging period.”
She said it is important that anyone who needs urgent medical help continues to come forward, using 999 in life-threatening emergencies and 111 for other urgent care.
Ms Hayes added that anyone who is unsure about where to go should call the NHS on 111, or visit 111.nhs.uk for advice.
Patients are urged to only attend the emergency department for a life-threatening illness or injury.
Those collecting loved ones ready for discharge are being urged to collect them as quickly as possible to clear the backlog.
East Kent Hospitals has been approached for further comment on the concerns raised today.