Frail elderly patients will be seen by a specialist team as soon as they arrive at hospital, in a move aimed at improving emergency care.

The Acute Frailty Service has been launched by Medway NHS Foundation Trust after health inspectors said patients were seeing too many doctors.

Upon arrival in A&E or a medical assessment unit at Medway Maritime Hospital, elderly patients will see a geriatric consultant and a specialist nurse.

The pilot project also hopes to reduce the amount of time pensioners spend in the hospital.

Dr Sanjay Suman, a consultant geriatrician, said: “We are pleased this service is now available to our elderly frail patients.

“This means patients in some cases can go home the same day to their comfort of their own homes – something that might not have happened in the past.

“This new approach will ensure a clear treatment and discharge plan is put in place as soon as the patient is admitted.”

Dr Suman added: “In light of the CQC’s report, it is imperative that we continue to deliver projects of this nature to ensure our elderly patients are seen by an integrated team of medical professionals, rather than multiple doctors.

“This will ultimately herald better results in terms of getting patients the right type of treatment, and improving their overall experience.”

In the past, patients would need to be admitted to hospital before they could see a specialist geriatrician.

Under the new scheme they will be seen as soon as possible, which in some cases will avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital, and in turn reduce bed-blocking.

Log-jams of in-patients have caused frequent problems at the hospital and chief executive Lesley Dwyer has said that there can be more than 100 patients in beds at any one time who no longer needed to be there, but are unable to be discharged.

Dr Pete Green, chief clinical officer at Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCQ) said: “This new service will allow patients to be seen sooner by specialist clinical staff and get access to the right care in a more timely fashion.”