A crisis-hit Kent hospital has apologised to an 86-year-old man who fell while walking home after giving up following a 15-hour wait in A&E.

Brian Hooker, who suffers from lung disease and mobility difficulties, was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital by ambulance on Saturday afternoon and waited overnight in the hope of seeing a doctor.

Dismayed by the situation at the Gillingham hospital, which in the run-up to Christmas declared a critical incident over lack of capacity, Mr Hooker self-discharged from the emergency department and set off to walk to his home in Chatham Grove.

While making his way home, he suffered a fall. Passers-by came to his aid and kindly drove him the rest of the way home.

His son, Lawrence Hooker, believes his father could have suffered serious injury or even death if he had fallen and hit his head.

He feels the hospital should be doing more to both ensure that potentially vulnerable people do not simply walk out of A&E, and that family members are contacted in situations where their loved ones have decided to self-discharge.

"The experience is not abnormal, it's normal," he said. "They just do not have enough staff.

"Because he doesn't have a diagnosis of dementia they'll let him self-discharge. To some extent that's one person off their list, isn't it?

"That's just the reality of life when people are beaten down to the extent that the nursing staff are.

"They don't have the energy to worry about chasing someone out into the street if they want to go home."

Mr Hooker, who volunteers as a trustee at the hospital trust, says he understands the pressure the frontline staff are under and does not blame them for the spiralling delays in A&E which have affected his father and many others.

But he does believe the lack of capacity will have indirect consequences for patients, some of them potentially fatal.

He said: "Lives are being put at risk because of this.

"When he fell down on the way home it's pure statistical chance whether he smacks his head on a kerb stone, or the worktop in the kitchen, or the floor, and kills himself."

Mr Hooker expressed his thanks to the anonymous Good Samaritans who helped get his father home when he fell on Sunday.

Last week Kent and Medway NHS Trust's chief medical officer revealed the Gillingham hospital was facing a busier than usual winter period and on January 3 the hospital again issued a warning that it was very busy in A&E.

A daughter whose 72-year-old father with dementia was left sitting in an A&E corridor for 24 hours yesterday told KentOnline the hospital's care was "below an acceptable standard".

Paul Coombs, from Sittingbourne, spent more than a week at Medway Maritime after he was taken to the Windmill Road site from his care home on Sunday, December 18, after contracting a urinary infection.

His daughter Laura Kanareck claims he lost eight pounds during his subsequent week-long stay after the family's instructions Mr Coombs needed help eating and drinking "fell on deaf ears".

Jayne Black, chief executive of Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We apologise for the long wait experienced by Mr Hooker, and invite both him and his family to contact us directly so we can investigate their concerns.

"We continue to see high demand in our emergency department. Patients are prioritised according to clinical urgency and our staff are working tirelessly to ensure all patients are seen as quickly as possible.

"The public can help to ease the pressure by only attending our emergency department if you have an immediate life-threatening need.

"However, it remains important that anyone needing emergency care dials 999, and the public use 111 online and local pharmacies for other health issues and advice."