MPs from Medway and Swale have written to health minister Edward Argar to call for a new hospital.

The letter written today calls for a new hospital "due to population growth and local health needs", and follows a meeting between MPs and the minister to discuss healthcare in the area.

It is signed by Gillingham & Rainham MP Rehman Chishti, Chatham & Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch, Rochester & Strood MP Kelly Tolhurst, and Sittingbourne & Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson.

Together they write: "The hospital, when it was originally built in 1905, was not designed to accommodate this level of demand as well as further demand in terms of population growth.

"Medway Maritime Hospital is already under constant and significant strain, both because of the constraints on the hospital due to its age and configuration and especially because of its population catchment, which covers a very wide area and around 500,000 people, covering all of Medway and Swale.

"This catchment is due to increase even further with population growth. This would put unsustainable pressure on the existing hospital, which is already operating at and beyond capacity today and north Kent already has some of the highest health inequalities in the country."

Therefore, we are asking that substantial steps be taken to expand healthcare capacity in Medway and Swale, including short term increases in capacity and, in the longer term, an entirely new hospital."

The MPs state that building a new hospital with modern facilities and adequate capacity on a different site would be the "only practicable solution to ensure the long-term sustainability of healthcare provision in Medway and Swale."

But they go on to add: "The alternative put forward by the Chief Executive of Medway Hospital would be to look at a two-site solution for Medway Maritime Hospital, with new elective care facilities being built at a new site and emergency care remaining and expanding at the current site.

"In the short term, the hospital urgently requires a capacity upgrade to meet current demand. Having spoken and exchanged correspondence with the Chief Executive at Medway Hospital, he believes that a capital investment of around £130 million, to construct new buildings on the existing site, would be sufficient to continue providing sustainable, high-quality services to patients for the next five to ten years."

The letter states that the minister has agreed to visit the hospital and that the MPs would "welcome your visit, so you can see the challenges the hospital is going through".

It finishes: "Finally, we would like to share our gratitude to all the fantastic staff who work at the hospital, helping our constituents with their health needs."

Read more: all the latest news from Medway.