A daughter whose 72-year-old father with dementia was left sitting in an A&E corridor for 24 hours says the hospital's care was "below an acceptable standard".

Paul Coombs, from Sittingbourne, spent more than a week at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, at the end of December after contracting a urine infection.

He was taken to the Windmill Road site from his care home on Sunday, December 18, but endured a wait of many hours before being put on Wakeley ward the following day.

His daughter Laura Kanareck, from Snodland, claims he lost eight pounds during his subsequent week-long stay after the family's instructions Mr Coombs needed help eating and drinking "fell on deaf ears".

Mrs Kanareck, who insisted she isn't out to "bash the NHS", claims he was only given a cup of tea during his 24-hour wait and things got worse when he was moved to a ward.

The 35-year-old said: "I’m extremely upset my poor dad, who cannot speak for himself, was firstly left in a corridor for long alone and then was treated so badly on a ward.

"It broke my heart to leave him there knowing there were not enough nurses to look after him the way his care home does.

"This isn’t to bash the NHS at all, it’s to highlight where care falls below an acceptable standard which I feel it did at Medway hospital."

She says she and her mother visited her dad regularly that week and she felt staff were "rude" when they asked what was wrong with her father.

She added: "They demanded my five-year-old daughter wore a mask even when she was screaming she didn’t want to.

"I explained to the nurses once again he needed help being fed and should be walked around as he isn’t bed bound but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"To top it off we visited my father on Christmas Day in the evening, and he was asleep in the bed with a sandwich lying on top of his chest.

"He had cups of water on a tray next to him that hadn’t been touched because he can’t do it himself. Considering he had a bad urine infection he needed fluids.

"I asked if he had been out of the bed. The nurse said they didn’t think he could walk. We complained to the nurse but he just shrugged his shoulders and walked off."

Medway hospital has been under severe pressure in the past few weeks, with the Gillingham site declaring a critical incident before Christmas.

Mrs Kanareck claimed some patients were screaming for help, with other sick patients getting out of their own beds to help them.

She claimed: "At one point there were only two nurses trying to look after 25 patients, with one nurse declaring it the 'worst Christmas ever'."

Mr Coombs was eventually discharged on Tuesday, December 27, and weighed around a half-a-stone lighter according to his care home.

"He has lost a lot of weight and I think this is down to them leaving him to fend for himself," Mrs Kanareck added.

The Snodland mum has contacted the hospital's chief executive, care team and the CQC independent watchdog to complain.

She said: "This shouldn’t be expected in this day and age.

"I know this might not sound as horrific as some the stories I’ve read out there, but it’s still awful."

Last week Kent and Medway NHS Trust's chief medical officer revealed the hospital was facing a busier than usual winter period and yesterday (Tuesday) the hospital again issued a warning that it was very busy in A&E.

Jayne Black, Chief Executive of Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are sincerely sorry and acknowledge that the care received by Mr Coombs during his stay at Medway Maritime Hospital falls below the high standards of care we expect.

“We will be thoroughly investigating the concerns raised by Mr Coombs’s family, and we will be in touch with them in due course to discuss our findings.”