Father sleeps on floor of William Harvey Emergency Department after no beds available

Watch: ITV News Meridian's Sarah Saunders reports.

A father-of-two resorted to sleeping on the floor at the William Harvey Hospital in Kent, after he faced a wait of 45 hours for a bed.

Stephen Wells was taken to the site in Ashford by paramedics after coughing up blood.

Stephen's family have a history of sudden fatal haemorrhage, and staff were administering clotting agents every 3 to 4 hours.

This process was happening in the waiting room alongside other members of the public as there was nowhere else for him to go.

Watch: Stephen Wells explains what happened.

His partner Natasha said she was 'terrified' because of his family's medical history. She said: "Seeing the person you love in so much pain and discomfort and not getting the care they need is not ideal.

"I get that the NHS is under pressure- but there is still no need to treat a patient on the floor - to treat a patient like a dog."

In October in East kent A&E departments - 1,079  patients waited more than 12 hours - from decision to admission - known as trolley waits.

That is approaching the 1,190 trolley waits in December last year - when Kent A&Es struggled with record patent numbers.

Watch: Natasha tells ITV Meridian about Stephen's experience.

A&E departments are experiencing high demand and the Trust says it is sorry for patients who face extended waits - saying it's staff are working incredibly hard to provide timely care.

In a statement East Kent Hospitals told us: "We are working with NHS and social care partners to maximise capacity... but we cannot always admit patients as quickly as we would like.

Mr Wells says he was discharged and sent home - without investigative  tests with a camera he was told he'd need to identify the cause of the bleeding.  He is still waiting for that appointment.

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