Crisis hospital forced to use a cafe as ward

STRICKEN patients were pictured lying in a makeshift ward in a coffee shop, revealing the crisis facing NHS hospitals.

- BY DAN WARBURTON

Doctors treated people in beds wheeled into a cafe at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent.

Branded “humiliating” by health campaigners, images showed the main seating area of the hot drinks spot blocked off with screens and a security guard posted outside.

Photographs show elderly patients on beds in the space.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was “unacceptable” and expects hospital bosses to take “urgent action”.