A pregnant mum has described her shock over the "filthy" conditions she encountered on a visit to the William Harvey Hospital after finding blood stains on the floor and dust balls in the corridors.

Bonnie Slater, 33, was visiting the Ashford hospital for an ultrasound scan ahead of her emergency caesarean section procedure.

The mum-of-two, of Grove Green in Maidstone, opted to go to the hospital after she had problems at Pembury Hospital in the past, and said she was alarmed by the lack of cleanliness.

She said: “It was terrible, there were blood stains all the way through the hospital, along a two minute walk.

“There were fluff balls gathering dust which would have taken months to accumulate, it was old dirt. It was filthy.

“It was very shocking, especially if you think you are going to be bringing a baby into the world there, it makes you panic.

“How can it be that bad? How has it got into a state like that.”

Her mum Debbie Fulop compared the state of cleanliness in the William Harvey to a “third world country” and said she had seen better conditions in government run hospitals in her native South Africa.

The complaint follows previous concerns raised by patients about overflowing bins and filthy toilets seen by Steve Rumbelow in August.

But East Kent NHS (EKHUFT) communications officer Sarah Landers said: “We work hard to maintain the highest standards of cleanliness and we are sorry to hear that the patient felt the department fell short on this occasion.

“We have a robust cleaning programme for our hospitals that is carried out by trained housekeepers and is checked on a regular basis to ensure our high standards are being met.

“If we are made aware of any problems outside of these times we will of course also carry out any cleaning required.

“Hospitals are a constantly changing live environment where events can occur in-between cleaning schedules.

"We are therefore very grateful when staff and the public alert us so we can address the issue.”