Darent Valley hospital was pushed to the NHS’s second-highest pressure rating during a “particularly challenging winter”.

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust ranked second in a national report for the highest number of Operational Pressure levels.

OPEL 3 alerts show a trust is experiencing major pressures compromising patient flow, with the highest OPEL 4 indicating a trust cannot deliver comprehensive care with an increased potential for patient safety to be compromised.

A spokesman for the trust said that they, along with the majority of NHS, suffered a tough winter.

He said: “This was a particularly challenging winter across local health services in the region. 

“We worked alongside our colleagues in other agencies including the ambulance Trusts, Social Services, CCGs (Clinical Commissioning Groups) and councils to manage the demand on services which involved escalating the alert status to OPEL 3 or OPEL 4 as necessary.” 

From December to March, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust spent 54 days on an OPEL 3 or 4 pressure alert.

Darent Valley hospital is classed as a “small hospital” because it has under 500 beds, with a total of 473.
At a recent policy overview meeting it was revealed by Mike Gilbert, company secretary for the trust, that the impact of population growth will mean the CCG will have a funding deficit of £17m this year.

In 2015, the CCG had a deficit of £1.2 million, and in 2016/17 the impact of growth, estimated at 2 per cent a year, meant that the deficit was forecast to be £17 million.

He said: “The impact of growth and historic underfunding was significantly affecting CCG performance.”

Councillor Tom Maddsion, who represents residents living in Temple Hill, The Bridge and Newtown on Kent Council Council, voiced his concern about the impact on local NHS services in Dartford.

He said: “This funding squeeze is flawed, unfair and represents a cut to local NHS services in Dartford.

“We’ve got fantastic hard working doctors and nurses at Darent Valley Hospital but I am very concerned of the impact the cut in funding will have on patient care in Dartford.”