Medway hospital’s administration system is “broken” and the facilities are “not fit for purpose” its chief executive has told a health board.

Lesley Dwyer said although improvements have been made there is still a long way for the troubled hospital, which has been in special measures since 2013, to go.

She expressed regret that Medway NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Medway Maritime Hospital, and the hospital itself were still falling short of standards and said: “Medway will not do this alone, we need all the support that’s out there.”

Responding to questions about lost or late appointment letters, unanswered phone calls and other administration problems, she told Medway Council’s health and wellbeing board that the system is broken and needed a redesign.

“We will need to put 80% of the Trust’s efforts into it and we don’t have the luxury of doing that right now,” she said.

“We really do need to get through this next period, and there is a whole range of other things coming behind that.”

The trust is nearing the end of an 18-month improvement plan, which has focused on restructuring the accident and emergency department and dealing with staffing shortages.

Cllr Andrew Mackness commented at Tuesday’s meeting: “I go on that site and there’s dingy, horrible buildings that quite frankly need pulling down.”

Ms Dwyer replied: “We are landlocked, we have facilities that we are continuing to care for people in, that are not fit for purpose and were probably not fit for purpose a couple of decades ago.”

The trust is facing a £50 million deficit this year and Ms Dwyer said: “It’s something that really concerns us.

“In trying to maintain quality we have had to invest in areas with what amounts to money we don’t have.

“We are undertaking a baseline revue, trying to get a sense of what a hospital like Medway should be running at, but getting our staffing right is not a quick fix.”

Ms Dwyer, who moved from Australia to take over the Trust last year, said they are trying to end their “over dependance and over reliance” on agency and locum staff, but added there is no magic button when it comes to stabilising the workforce.