Trust apologises for treating A&E patients in cafe
A hospital boss has apologised after a Kent emergency department resorted to using its cafe as a makeshift ward.
A&E staff at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford decided to screen off the building's cafe on Tuesday to create space for treating patients.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said the move was due to "significant demand".
Trust chief executive Tracey Fletcher said: "We know this is unacceptable and we are very sorry to patients who have been cared for in this way."
A "small number" of patients were looked after in the cafe until emergency patients could be moved to other wards in the hospital, the trust said.
Ms Fletcher said it was "sometimes necessary" to treat patients in corridors despite staff's efforts, but that use of the cafe, first reported by Kent Online, external, "will not be allowed to happen again".
Source: BBC News, 18 September 2025
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