Patients faced long delays because of a traffic jam at Medway Maritime Hospital yesterday afternoon.

Queues of cars were snaking their way from the car park, through the grounds, into Windmill Road and as far as the A2.

It was ‘total traffic gridlock’ according to one visitor, who queued for over an hour to travel less than a mile.

Steve Constable, who was taking his wife to an appointment, said: “The traffic was backed up to the A2 from the car park.

“It took us about 40 minutes to get from Whitstable to the Canterbury Street turn-off and then nearly an hour from there until I could park the car.

“My wife, who had the appointment, got out and walked the last few hundred yards when a driver coming the other way told us it was queuing all the way in.

“It was total traffic gridlock.”

The Messenger has previously reported how ambulances struggle to get to A&E and patients face long delays because of traffic jams at the hospital in Windmill Road.

The traffic stacks up at peak out-patient appointment times – when the car park is full and the barriers into the multi-storey do not lift until there is a free space.

The queues block the entrance to the hospital which means ambulances struggle to get through and buses cannot get to the stop inside the grounds.

Both Arriva and Medway Council have been in discussions with Medway NHS Foundation Trust about the problem.

A spokesman for Medway NHS Foundation Trust said: “We would like to apologise to patients who experience high volumes of traffic accessing the site.

"Medway NHS Foundation Trust treats approximately 500,000 people a year and we are aware that the site can become very congested at times.

"With this in mind the Trust has recently carried out a review of car parking and traffic management on the Medway site, and are pleased to confirm that a number of improvements that we feel will relieve some of the congestion, will be introduced shortly.

"These will include a new patient barrier system, new signage to include electronic space counts and new road markings. The Trust is also working closely with Medway Council on a number of possible options.”

Did you experience any problems yesterday? Email medwaymessenger@thekmgroup.co.uk or phone 01634 227835.