Pressure on Medway’s health services increased in the second week of January with the hospital continuing to declare a “major alert”.

For three days, Medway Maritime Hospital was at the highest level of operational pressure escalation, a step up from the previous week.

A major alert is triggered when hospitals are experiencing severe pressures and indicate they are struggling to cope with increasing demand.

Medway hospital declared operational pressure escalation level four (OPEL 4) on Tuesday January 10 and the two following days.

That level indicates that pressure in the local health and social care system continues to escalate leaving the potential for patient care and safety to be compromised. It had been at OPEL 3 throughout the previous week.

Yet the number of people going to A&E fell that week, with 311 on Monday, 327 on Tuesday, 295 on Wednesday, 261 on Thursday, 266 on Friday, 258 on Saturday and 274 on Sunday.

Over the festive period, around 400 people each day were seen in the emergency department.

Margaret Dalziel, Director of Clinical Operations for Acute and Continuing Care at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are still very busy, both in our emergency department and across the hospital as a whole, but we’re pleased to be able to say that the majority of our patients coming in to A&E who need to be treated by our A&E doctors are seen safely and comparatively quickly.

“We make sure that the people who need care most urgently are prioritised, so members of the public who come in with minor ailments are those who will normally have the longer waits for treatment.”

She added: “If you aren’t sure if you need to be seen in A&E, you can call NHS 111 for advice; it may be that you can be treated quickly and effectively by a pharmacist or at a local GP walk-in centre.”