All non-urgent operations are to be cancelled from April 15 for a period of three months as the NHS attempts to free resources to tackle coronavirus.

The emergency guidance from NHS England was announced this afternoon and will see many planned procedures and appointments at Kent hospitals cancelled or delayed as health bosses look to free up beds and staff to tackle the escalating crisis.

It comes as increasing restrictions were already being put in place at hospitals in the county. Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham had already announced that it was to restrict visitors to the site to try and reduce the spread of the virus.

Visiting hours at the hospital have been reduced to a two-hour window from 6pm to 8pm, with NHS chiefs describing the new policy is “necessary” in order to “protect our patients and staff” from the spread of the virus.

A spokesman for the Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Partnership - which oversees the health service in the county - told us decisions would have to be made about priorities in the face of the crisis.

He said: “All of the hospitals and healthcare providers across Kent and Medway are working closely together – and with local partners and the national NHS – to respond to the challenges presented by Covid-19.

“This includes a lot of work looking at how we can best use our clinical workforce across the region and how we prioritise the services that we deliver, to ensure that we are able to both provide the necessary care for those who contract coronavirus and continue to treat the wide range of conditions that hospitals see on a day to day basis.”

Capacity in intensive care units is likely to be crucial in treatment of those who become seriously ill with the virus. East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that it has eight intensive care unit (ICU) beds at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

A spokesman for East Kent Hospitals said: “Like the rest of the NHS, we are preparing for all possible scenarios, including significant numbers of patients with coronavirus who need hospital care. This work includes looking at our supplies of equipment and our capacity.

“We are used to dealing with the pressures that unusual circumstances can put our hospital under and we are following national guidelines and procedures to keep our patients safe.”

Addressing the House of Commons at the start of the week, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs that as a country “we will fight this virus with everything we have”.

He said: “Thanks to the NHS, we are as well prepared as any nation can be.

“We are, by some measures, the best prepared for this stage of the spread of the virus, but what matters is giving the NHS all the support that it needs, and especially having regard to the capacity of the NHS, so that it can address the symptoms and consequences of this particular virus.

“We have ensured that we can use all hospital capability in this country, public or private, and bring it to the task. We are expanding the use and production of personal protective equipment. Making sure we get PPE to every single part of the NHS is absolutely vital. We will be cancelling or postponing non-time-sensitive elective surgery.”

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