William Harvey Hospital turns Costa Café into makeshift ward amid bed shortages

An overwhelmed hospital trust in southeast England was forced to convert the Costa Café at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford into a makeshift ward to cope with severe bed shortages and surging demand for care.

Images captured earlier this week show elderly patients lying on beds wheeled through the branch and into the cafe, a scene that health campaigners described as humiliating for patients.

An anonymous relative of a patient said the move felt like a failure of care, telling reporters that the hospital was "leaving people to rot" and asking what it says about the treatment of the elderly when space has run out in corridors. A staff member was overheard saying, "Oh, for god's sake, they've shut Costa again" as beds were moved to the cafe.

Ken Rogers, chair of Concern for Health in East Kent, called the makeshift ward "horrendous" and said it is "absolutely disgusting for patients to be treated this way." He added that moving beds into the Costa café because wards and corridors are full is horrific and signals a serious shortage of ward space that urgently needs addressing.

East Kent Hospitals, which runs the William Harvey and the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, has faced ongoing pressure and was ranked 101st out of 134 acute care providers in a recent league table. In August, 1,311 people waited at least 12 hours for a bed, up 116 from the same month last year and the third highest total in England.

Bed-blocking—patients well enough to leave remain in hospital because suitable care packages or placements are unavailable—has been identified as a key driver of these waits, contributing to longer waits in emergency departments and the use of corridor care in some cases. Ashford MP Sojan Joseph described corridor care as an "unfortunate and unacceptable consequence" of years of NHS funding pressure and called for more emphasis on community-based care, noting that the government's 10 Year Health Plan for England recognizes this shift.

As part of a broader effort to ease hospital pressure, Folkestone and Hythe has been named one of six "pioneer" sites under the government's Neighbourhood Health Programme in the South East. The programme aims to bring together medical and social care staff, along with council workers and charities, to form neighbourhood teams that can support people with long-term conditions. Early pilots have shown promising results, with some schemes reporting a drop in A&E attendance for at-risk patients—from 223 to 33 in six months.

NHS leaders say the Neighbourhood Health Programme could receive up to £10 million in national funding and help relieve hospital pressure by addressing health needs earlier and closer to where people live.

The two hospital trusts’ situation has been cited alongside a broader national crisis after the death of Dorothy Reid, a 91-year-old woman who reportedly waited in discomfort for hours after being told she could not return to EQM following a broken back. North East Kent Coroner Catherine Wood concluded that Mrs Reid might not have died had she visited the hospital, describing the case as a "national issue" with a risk of future deaths unless actions are taken.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the situation at William Harvey is unacceptable and that urgent action is required. The department noted that all NHS trusts should provide safe, dignified care in appropriate clinical settings and that the government is working to turn the tide on more than a decade of neglect while winter-proofing the NHS. East Kent Hospitals was contacted for comment.