by Ruth Banks

The Medway Maritime Hospital has run out of beds for new patients, following a surge in emergency admissions.

All 550 beds are occupied, and the hospital trust is urging people not to turn up at A&E unless they genuinely need hospital treatment.

Gray Smith-Laing, the medical director for the Medway NHS Foundation Trust said: "Anybody who has a minor viral illness, such as the flu, or a minor injury should go to their GP, a walk-in-centre or a minor injuries unit, rather than our emergency department.

"We are running at more than full capacity, as all of our medical beds are occupied.

"For every patient we admit we have to be sending someone home. And it's quite difficult to maintain that pace seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

"We never turn patients away - everyone will have appropriate care or attention - but they may wait longer for it."

Although the pressure on the hospital is more severe than normal at this time of year, medical staff are not entirely sure what is causing the problem.

Mr Smith-Laing added: "There are certainly lots of viral illnesses around. We haven't seen any evidence that swine flu is on the rise, but there are lots of flu-like illnesses.

"We seem to have, as one might expect at this time of the year, a significant number of elderly patients who have multiple medical problems. That's quite often capped off with a chest infection or the flu. But we're also seeing a significant number of younger patients who are seriously ill with a whole variety of problems."