A great-grandmother in her 80s was left in an A&E corridor for 13 hours because there were no free beds on the wards.

Jessie Wilson was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital by ambulance on Tuesday after falling at home. She arrived at 2pm, confused and suffering from a head injury.

She was assessed quite quickly, but then faced a 13-hour wait before being admitted to a ward. She was left on a trolley in a corridor between busy double doors and a gents' toilet.

Her daughter, Ann Fowler, was so appalled at the state of the hospital she has written to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to ask what is being done to improve Medway.

She said: "I can't fault the staff – they were so supportive but totally overwhelmed. A nurse told me they had 500 patients in 12 hours.

"Mum arrived at 2pm and finally had a bed at 2.50am. She is 88 and was totally exhausted and confused by that time, and where she was did not help. She was on a trolley next to a number in a corridor.

"There were double doors on one side of her which were used by the porters to bring patients in and out of A&E and on the other side was a gents' toilet.

"We were standing by the bed and were constantly having to move out of the way. You couldn't sit by mum because we were in the corridor. The only place you could put a chair out of the way was at the foot of her bed and that was by the toilet."

After a CT scan and blood tests, Mrs Wilson has been diagnosed with a chest infection. She has been admitted to Ocelot, a gynaecological ward, because Mrs Fowler said that was the only ward with a free bed for her.

"The place is in crisis. The staff there are working their socks off in appalling conditions..." - Ann Fowler

Mrs Fowler, 62, said: "The locum doctor who eventually saw mum said he also worked in hospitals in London and he had never experienced anything as bad as the situation at Medway.

"The place is in crisis. The staff there are working their socks off in appalling conditions. Because of those conditions they get classed as inadequate and then it is a vicious circle.

"The place is understaffed because they cannot recruit and the understaffing causes more chaos. My experience yesterday is not unusual – if a major emergency had occurred it does not bear thinking about.

"I have written to Jeremy Hunt's office to ask what procedures are in place to improve the situation. For the sake of the talented, caring staff who are being let down and the patients who are suffering, something has to be done."

Bev Critchlow, deputy director of nursing at the hospital, said: "We would like to apologise to Mrs Wilson for the delay she experienced.

"On the day in question, we happened to be experiencing an intense period of operational pressure, with more than 300 patients coming through the doors in one day alone.

"Similar pressures were also felt by our neighbouring hospitals. While there will be occasions where patients unfortunately have to wait longer than we would wish, it is very important to stress they are constantly being monitored by our nurses and doctors.

"Despite what are often difficult conditions, we'll always do our utmost to ensure patients receive safe and compassionate care.

"Our continued plans for the development of our emergency department will go a long way to improving capacity and waiting times at Medway hospital."