A frustrated patient waiting in a busy A&E has been involved in a stand-off with staff after his friend brought in a mattress for him to lie down on.
The make shift bed was dragged onto the floor of the emergency unit at Ashford's William Harvey hospital.
Also in today's podcast, we've got an extended chat with a Chatham woman who was taken into care when she was just four.
Natasha Morgan is now 33 and is using her experience as a child to help those who're now going into the care system.
A group representing care providers in Kent is urging the next government to increase funding for the social care sector.
The Medway-based National Care Association says there's a 14-billion pound shortfall - they're also struggling with a workforce crisis.
Bosses have apologised to a landlord in Canterbury after he was warned he could go to prison for painting his shopfronts pink.
The 16th century Grade II listed buildings in St Peter's Street are home to a nail salon and hairdressers.
And in sport, and Gillingham will host newly relegated Carlisle United in their first league 2 match next season.
The fixtures have been published today - and the Gills start with a home game on Saturday, August 10.
10. Kent Online News. News You Can Trust. This is the Kent Online Podcast. Nicola Everett. Hello. Hope you're OK. Thanks ever so much for downloading today's podcast. It's Wednesday, June the 26th. And this is our most read story on the website today. A frustrated patient waiting in a busy A&E department has been involved in a bit of a standoff with staff after his friend brought in a mattress for him to lie down on. Now, the makeshift bed was dragged onto the floor of the emergency unit at Ashford's William Harvey Hospital. Kate has been following this story for the Kent Online Podcast. So Kate, can you tell us what happened? Well, onlookers say that a scrunch of a patient had been there for an hour and was growing increasingly angry at waiting to be seen. A friend then arrived and brought him a rubber mattress, which was set up in the middle of the A&E floor for him to lie down on. Staff tried to explain that it was a help hazard and could potentially block them from getting to their patients, but the man and his friend began shouting the patient also demanded to be seen straight away. It took half an hour of convincing before he finally agreed to move to a chair. It left other people in the waiting room quite frustrated. They say his antics were wasting valuable staff time. And this comes as A&E scene can to all seeing long delays in patients being seen. That's right. 1,893 people waited more than 12 hours for a bed on award last month. East Kent Hospital Trust has the worst A&E waiting times in the county with just 53% of patients seen within four hours last month. In Kent Online, over the past few months, there have been many stories of people waiting for a bed, including a man who slept on the floor of the William Harvey as he waited 45 hours and an 89-year-old patient who waited three days to be admitted to award at Medway Maritime. Have hospital bosses given any reason for the long wait times case? Well, one reason for the delay is something called bed blocking. It's when patients no longer need treatment but have to be kept in hospital because there's no suitable place for them to go, such as a care home or specially adapted accommodation. It means while they're waiting to be discharged, they're accused for a space on the ward. Speaking in response to Monday's Mattress incident though, East Kent Hospital Trust say they understand people can become frustrated while waiting, especially during periods of high levels of demand. They carry on to say staff are working incredibly hard to provide safe and timely care for patients while keeping them as comfortable as possible. Can you thank you ever so much? Kent Online News In other top stories now, a man in his 60s has died in a motorcycle crash near Graves End. He was riding along Ludd's down road yesterday, lunchtime when the bike left the carriage way and went down an embankment. Police and paramedics were caught but were unable to save him. A long-filled man who attacked a woman after promising to get her home after a night out has been jailed. Reese Chial targeted his victim as she slept at an address he'd taken her to in August 2021. The 26-year-old from weirdwood in the town was found guilty following a trial and sentenced to four and a half years. An inquest into the death of a She and S teenager who died following an asthma attack has found he suffered permanent brain damage. 14-year-old Dylan trainer collapsed at home in December 2022. Despite the quick response of paramedics, they were unable to save him. An impatient driver who reversed into a woman while stuck in traffic in Ramsgate has appeared in court. Danny Lowe left the pedestrian with a broken pelvis and fractured arm when it happened in October last year. The 43-year-old from Park Road in Burchington was banned from driving six months later after being caught over the limit. He will be sentenced in August. Now, we've got an extended chat next with a chat and woman who was taken into care when she was just four years old. Natasha Morgan is now 33 and is using her experience as a child to help those who are now going into the care system. It wasn't until she was 20 that she was able to see her case file to find out exactly why she'd been separated from her mum, which is now taken on the role of Chairman of the Hazel Project, a private company on St Mary's Island in Chatham that matches foster parents with children. Natasha has been sharing her story with reporter Keeley Greenwood. So, obviously, when you first go into care, you never straight away think of it as a positive experience. I didn't really understand what was going on. So, no, I hated it at first. The truth being told. But as I got older, I realised the support that you could sort of get. And once I moved in with my auntie, I feel that things just sort of fell into place for me. But at first, it's totally negative. So, even though the family you were living with were obviously like, "Try really hard, really no." You were just like, "No, I don't want to know." I think it's more because I didn't understand what was going on and I didn't know the reasons as to why I was being away from my mum in the first place. I mean, you could be being treated horribly and where it's just second nature to you. You don't really know, do you? But, yes, at first, it was really, really negative. But then I sort of, as I grew older, I sort of got used to and understood a lot more. I think if you have something to explain to you what's going on, it makes it a lot more easy to take. And you saying that is sort of a stigma attached to you as, "Oh, she's--" Definitely. How did that affect you about going into it? It's definitely at school. As soon as they know, "Oh, she's been in care. She's a care child." I mean, they straight away just thought, "Oh, that's why she's been like that. That's why she's naughty. Oh, she's just going to be a naughty child. She's not really going to go anywhere in life." So you sort of start to believe it. And I literally thought that that's why I'm always going to be like this because I'm just known as that care child. And I used to even hate telling my friends that I was in care because, again, people just think, "Oh, yes, yes, where's her mum and dad? Or where's this? And where's that?" And so I never told a lot of people. A lot of my friends that didn't know until later running life and I said, "What, you've been in care?" And I'm like, "Yeah, because I was really good at hiding it. Because I didn't want to tell everyone that. It was horrible. To me, it was embarrassing at the time. I wanted to be with my mum and dad, and I couldn't be. So, yeah, it was just, it was horrible. And can you remember much of your life before when you were with your parents? Yeah, I mean, I was very young. I was four when I got took into care. So, but I do remember little bits. Like I mentioned earlier, when we was having a chat, certain things, when you read your files back, certain things would trigger things. So, I could read something I use in this, you was dressed like this, or this is the, when I visited her, she was in this house wearing this. And I was like, "Oh, actually, I remember that house now. Oh, I remember living there." So, it's not until you get older. Your brain regresses, a lot of stuff, a lot of trauma when you're younger. So, no, I didn't for a long time. It wasn't until I read over my files and all of that, and read sort of what had happened to me that I understood a little bit more. So, did you have, when you were in your, with your foster parents, did you have, like, they're saying that, you know, the child comes with a lot of trauma, and did you have a lot of sort of internal trauma? I was, I was considered probably an angry child. Didn't want to engage nothing. I mean, and that was lovely. They'd really tried. You know what I mean? It wasn't like it was a horrible home or anything like that. It really wasn't. And things like that do fish and ship Friday, and I didn't want to sit at the table, because I was never used to it. I was used to just being able to sort of eat where I want, do what I want, and they're like, come and sit at the table. And I'm like, I don't want to sit at the table. So, I'd rather not eat. I'd choose not to eat. So, I made it really difficult for myself, just because, again, understanding now, because I was traumatised as a child, stuff I'd gone through, and that did affect me, going into my foster homes, definitely. So, what other sort of things have you used to do? I used to try and run away a lot. I used to never want to be there, even from my aunt to me, you know, and they loved me. They'd done everything they could for me. But, because I didn't understand, I used to run away to my mum, used to live with my Nan, and I used to run to my Nan's house just to get away. And I used to think, oh, I want to live here. What's so wrong with me living here? It wasn't until I got older and understood, actually, these are the reasons why. But if that has explained to me when I was younger, I might not have done all that running away. I might not have been so angry. I might not have been so embarrassed to say that I'm in care, because it just wasn't something positive. It wasn't because you just didn't care and you're living with a nice family. Her parents don't love her, or she doesn't come to all the parties, because I couldn't go to a party unless they were DBS checked. I couldn't go to sleep over someone's house. I didn't do all of the stuff a normal child does, because I wasn't allowed to do it. Oh, it's even in foster care. You can't do that. The person that the child goes to sleep with, sorry, I said that in the wrong way, you know what I mean. If they go for a sleepover, they have to be checked. The house has to be checked. They need to make sure that they're able to look at. You can't just go and stay at a friend's house, like a normal child. So I missed out on a lot of stuff, even parties, birthday parties and things like that. And then you go back to school, and everyone's talking about the party they went to at the weekend, and I couldn't be involved in none of it. So then I ended up being a little bit secluded, a little bit isolated, bullied quite a lot, until I got to a pot where I just sort of had to stick up for myself and just be like the rest of the other kids. But there was only so much you can do, because I am still a kid child. But that's why I hid a lot of it. I didn't want to tell anyone. So it's horrible. But now you are the chair of the panel. I now chair the panel for the Hazel project, and I couldn't be proud of. I think a lot of times I thought I was an imposter. I thought, "Oh, I can't look good at this for this job, and why don't I pick someone more qualified?" And it's not until I look back, and I think actually I've come through a lot. I know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm very knowledgeable in that field, and I can't believe how far I've come. Sometimes I look at myself and think, "Oh my God, how are you the panel chair of this?" But like I said, I know my stuff, I know what I'm looking out for, and I always look at it in a sense, but I want to live with this family that I'm sort of recommending to be approved. So it's amazing. Huge thank you to Natasha for sharing her story, and you can read Keeley's reports in Fall by heading to Kent Online. Figures show that since 2019, the number of fostering households is decreased by more than 1,000, while the number of children in care has increased by 5,690. Kent Online reports. Now, we're just over a week until we go to the polls. There'll be a hostings event in Ashford tonight. The six candidates for the constituency have been invited to answer questions from voters. It's taking place at St Mary, the Virgin Church on Tufton Street from Seven. In time, the people hoping to be in the next MP for the new "weald constituency" in Kent are going to be quizzed in their plans for tackling the climate crisis. Kent Wildlife Trusters organised a hostings event where candidates will also be questioned by voters. Candidates from the five main parties are running for the seat in the event. It's in Beathersdon Village Hall from 730. Now, a group representing care providers in Kent is urging the next government to increase funding for the social care sector, the Medway-based National Care Association says there's a £14 billion shortfall and they're also struggling with a workforce crisis. She also wants health care funding to be separated, so it doesn't all go to the NHS. Nadra Ahmed is executive co-chair of the organisation. I think what we'd really like to see is a real focus on social care, not just talk, because talk is very cheap. It's very easy. We've been through many elections since the Blair eras where it becomes an election issue. People talk about it and say they've got ready-made plans, they're going to fix it, all those kinds of issues. As soon as things come into the arena, they're shouted down by the opposition or there's some challenge that appears and so it disappears. I think what we really need is to have a plan which is agreed across party. Now, I think that would be really important. Listen to the experts. Putting a commission in place is a waste of time and energy. I've heard that being said by one of the party leaders, we'll put a commission in and we'll... We've had about 10 commissions and they all say the same sorts of things. Actually, take them off your bookshelves, dust them down and have a really good read of them and you will get your answers as to what needs to happen. Then we need to put plans into place. I'm not denying that there are some real challenges around the types of conditions we're now looking after because the NHS is under pressure. It wasn't set up to look after the sort of population we have now. We put huge amounts of money into research to keep people alive longer. We get some really good medications out there. The pharmaceutical companies make a huge amount of money out of that but then we are looking after the people within the NHS and social care. So is there a way to make sure that if a research brings about support for somebody to have a better quality of life until they're going to need the services, that we're making sure that we're getting the payback, the research that's been put in, I think we just need to think strategically through. Can's online reports. Bosses have apologized to a landlord in Canterbury after he was warned he could go to prison for painting his shopfronts pink. The 16th century grade two listed buildings in St Peter's Strait home to a nail salon and hairdressers where Christopher Neville was changing the counter to one that had been approved by bosses when he received an enforcement notice. I was shocked to receive these formal enforcement notices in regard to the me starting the work of painting the front elevations front walls of these two shop properties here, grade two listed building. When I was well within my time to be able to do the work they far exceeded their powers by doing this to me that apparently it has up to two years in jail and unlimited fine of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut even when there was not a nut to crack. And I feel that this is Canterbury Planning Department, Canterbury City Council, default solution of intimidating people in their eyes to get work done when it just wasn't necessary because I was within the granted permission time of executing the work. So naughty planning department some I would go as far to say ignorant person did not check on the date that I was allowed up until to carry out this work which is until the end of next month the 27th of July and we're in June and I received on the 18th of June these enforcement notices from the sledgehammering planning department at Canterbury City Council which frankly is very intimidating worrying when all of this is just not necessary they could have sent me a polite letter an email saying dear mr. Neville what is happening in regard to starting the work of painting the outside but no they didn't do that they didn't check their dates they just issued me through a solicitor these enforcement notices the council has now said sorry and are pleased the work has been done there's uncertainty over whether a new little is going to be built on sheppy despite getting planning permission supermarket bosses claim their plans for Queenborough are at risk due to court action being taken by rivals Aldi the new store would have created 40 jobs Aldi has declined to comment and the head of a statue has been removed by vandals in a park in Folkestone it's understood police were investigating after the sculpture of St Ainswith was targeted in Radner Park last week Ken's online sport football first up and Chillingham were host newly relegated Carlisle united in their first league to match next season the fixtures have been published today and the Jills start with a home game on Saturday the 10th of August they'll be pushing for promotion under new boss Mark Bonner after previously finishing just outside the playoff places with more hits our sports reporter Luke Cordell it's going to be a home start for Jillingham this season which always feels like the best way to start a new season and visiting priests field on August the 10th of Carlisle united a team who like Jillingham are being backed to have a successful season this time around they were relegated finishing bottom of league one last season so they'll be hoping for a much improved season and it's going to be a bit of an American loving at Priestfield for the first game too with both clubs under US ownership it's a division that's dominated by northern teams like Carlisle and Jillingham have two long trips away from home with in the first month with back-to-back games at Morgan and Fleetwood in August title favorites Chesterfield they won the national league last season and they visit Priestfield at the end of the month and then at the end of September former manager Stephen Clemens brings his barrow team to Priestfield he was obviously sacked by Jillingham at the end of last season following a 12th place finish promotions the aim this season for for Jillingham in there new manager Mark Bonner and the campaign will finish on May the 3rd at Port Vale and with the final home game the week before against old rivals Swindon Town who they'll also be hoping to have a better season this time around and the sunshine in now but the festive fixtures are also ones that fans are going to be looking out for and Jillingham head to Colchester United for the Boxing Day clash and welcome near neighbors Bromley to Priestfield on New Year's Day the South London Club won promotion from the National League last season via the playoffs winning at Wembley and it's going to be quite an interesting game to to play Bromley for the first time in the league there's plenty of work to do before the season starts though players return to training on Monday there's a handful of pre-season games to look forward to including Millwall and Watford at home and hopefully the the excitement I've seen the fixtures will lift some of those Jillingham fans up who might have been watching the England game last night. Cricket next and Kent are facing a tough challenge on the final day of their county championship match against Lancashire due to resume at Canterbury on 143 for six in their second innings trailing by 162 runs and in tennis Kent's Emma Ratikhanu's due back in action at the Eastbourne International later it's after her straight sets win over American Sloane Stevens yesterday the 21-year-old from Orpington faces Jessica Pagula next well that's all from us for today thanks ever so much for listening don't forget you can follow us on Facebook x Instagram TikTok and threads you can also get details on the top stories direct your email each morning via the briefing to sign up to that you just need to head to kentonline.co.uk news you can trust this is the Kent online podcast [BLANK_AUDIO]
