HOSPITAL chiefs say they will need a further £1.8 million to spend on employing more junior doctors once a new European law limiting their working hours begins.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which runs Maidstone Hospital, Pembury Hospital, and Kent and Sussex Hospital, Tunbridge Wells, currently has 296 junior doctors on its books.

However, it says it will need another 43 to keep current levels of service operational after the European working hours directive comes into effect next August.

The directive will restrict junior doctors' to a 58-hour week and some NHS managers across the country have claimed this could lead to the closure of some wards and services.

A Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust spokesman said: "We have reviewed our current staffing levels to see what we need to do to comply and need £1.8 million to employ more junior doctors to keep our current levels of service operational.

"However, we are looking at designing alternative ways of delivering patient care that do not rely on simply increasing staffing."