Another inspection of Medway Maritime has found the hospital is still not making enough progress, with delays transferring patients from A&E and theatre top of the list of concerns.

The Care Quality Commission has once again rated the trust inadequate following an unannounced visit on December 9.

The new leadership team are three months into an 18 month plan to stabilise the organisation which was placed in special measures in July 2013.

The CQC has recognised that some improvements have been made but said there is still much work to do

The CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, Prof Mike Richards, said: “When we inspected Medway Maritime Hospital in December, we found that while there had been some signs of improvement in both the A&E and theatre departments, there is still a long way to go before they meet the required standard.

“There has been some strengthening of the leadership in the trust since our last inspection, and we will monitor the situation carefully to ensure the progress we have found continues.”

The inspection covered the emergency department and theatre.

In A&E, inspectors found the department continued to experience significant issues with transferring patients to wards once a decision had been made to admit them.

Despite the trust implementing initiatives such as assessing of all patients within 15 minutes of their arrival, improvements are still needed to ensure that patients arriving by ambulance receive the same level of care.

Inspectors said clinical leadership was starting to develop but staff were, however extremely candid with them regarding the current pressures of working within the department.

In theatre, the CQC found there had been some improvements in the delivery of services although inspectors were concerned the department was still not being well-led in some aspects. The CQC has referred its concerns back to the trust's executive team.

Patients continue to experience delays in being transferred from the recovery department to a ward bed; this was attributed to the continued and significant capacity issues experienced across the hospital.

The trust said the areas highlighted by the CQC are mirrored in its own 18-month plan.

Dr Phil Barnes, acting chief executive, said: “The CQC report demonstrates that a small improvement has been made at the trust.

"However the new executive team recognise that there is still much to do to ensure patients get a consistently high quality of care and patient experience.

"The trust board remains firmly committed to making the changes that are required at the trust.”