Bosses at Medway Maritime Hospital are working on proposals to increase the number of parking spaces in a bid to stop the site suffering traffic gridlock.

The possibility of 90 extra bays were made public following a question from governor Doreen King, who had received worries that traffic backing onto Windmill Road might be affecting ambulances.

Although there are two visitor car parks at the Gillingham hospital, vehicles are prevented from entering unless there are vacant spaces – leading to backlogs around the site as motorists wait for access.

Mrs King added: “There’s about a quarter of a mile when you’ve got really heavy congestion with traffic at certain times of the day, and it would be good to know if ambulances are able to get through.”

Medway NHS Foundation Trust chief executive James Devine said he had not heard “any complaints or comments” from the South East Coast Ambulance Service about issues affecting the main entrance.

On the trust’s website, on-site parking is described as “limited” and visitors are recommended to use public transport “where possible”.

But director of estates and facilities Gary Lupton confirmed work was underway to expand the number of bays available.

He told board members: “We’ve done a calculation that could increase spaces by about 90 – that would take off the queues and relieve an awful lot of pressure on the site.

“We’re in the midst of a major review around visitor and staff parking so we’ve got roughly the number that we think will ease that problem.”