Darent Valley Hospital has advised patients to use other NHS services to ease the overcrowding demands that health secretary Jeremy Hunt today admitted the NHS has.

The fresh warning comes after figures released this week showed that a record number of people have waited longer than four hours in A&E.

A spokesperson for the hospital said patients should consider using the full range of NHS services available in the area before heading to A&E to help with hospital turn around.

Jeremy Hunt called current problems “completely unacceptable” and said the key was to treat more people "at home and in the community".

A spokesperson for Darent Valley said: “We have a higher level of occupancy than we would like.

“For us it is about our ability to free beds. We urge patients to use A&E appropriately and use the full range of services available.

“Mr Hunt’s comments apply to us as with any hospital as we are considered to be a small hospital. We have 480 beds, but a huge number of people coming through.”

Over December the hospital experienced an extremely high demand for services, with an average 330 patients being seen daily in the A&E department.

There was an increase of 751 patients using the A&E department when compared to the same period in December 2015.

A spokesperson said: “We are asking people in our local community who need non-emergency care to visit their GP, Walk-in Centre or Minor Injuries Unit to get the most appropriate treatment they need, rather than visiting A&E.”

For a full list of local services check the Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCG website.