A new waiting area for seriously ill patients has been opened at Medway’s A&E as part of its £13.4 million redevelopment.

The hospital is making changes to its majors and resuscitation areas, as well as other parts of A&E, to help it better cope with the increasing pressure of Medway and Swale’s growing population.

The emergency department, previously branded totally unsuitable in an NHS report, was built to cope with 45,000 people, but treated and cared for more than 100,000 patients last year.

The opening of the waiting room will ensure any patients in the majors unit will now be in an area where they can be closely monitored by doctors and nurses, should their condition change or worsen.

Medway NHS Foundation Trust has been making improvements to A&E in stages since the Keogh report into high death rates in 2013, which called for an urgent upgrade. Other changes have included an acute assessment unit and a new children’s area.

The hospital, which remains in special measures, said it has also responded to calls from the Care Quality Commission for staff in A&E to receive more training.

Inspectors who visited the hospital in September, said there was a clear requirement for emergency medics to receive further training to help improve clinical assessment and the overall experience a patient has when they arrive at the hospital.

The Trust has now introduced a learning and development board, which sits monthly and oversees all training for doctors and nurses.

It has also employed an A&E consultant nurse to provide extra training, as well as a senior matron and general manager for the department.

The way patients are assessed has also been reviewed; patients will now be seen by a senior clinician, who will make decision on what the most suitable treatment and discharge plan is.

'The changes will go a long way to help make the experience more pleasant for patients' - Margaret Dalziel, Medway Maritime

Margaret Dalziel, director of clinical operations, said: “The opening of the new waiting area is another significant milestone in our plans to redevelop and modernise the emergency department for patients.

“We’re pleased about the changes we’ve introduced to the initial clinical assessment that patients will now receive when they arrive.

“They will go a long way to help make the experience that bit more pleasant for our patients. It will also ensure they have the right treatment and discharge plan in place from the outset.

“We’re also delighted to have welcomed on board some really outstanding clinical staff – all of whom have invaluable experience in the field of emergency care.

"This will stand us and our patients in good stead, as we start to deliver the next stages of the redevelopment programme.”