Now we’re all on the waiting list

Election call delays revelation of health plans

The snap general election has been blamed for the delay of a public consultation into plans for the future of Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

Health officials say the plans could now stay under wraps until early next year.

They say the shock announcement this week will “inevitably delay” the unveiling of the controversial plans, which are likely to see the city site downgraded to little more than a cottage hospital.

Only when a consultation document is released will they reveal the new proposed designations of east Kent’s three biggest hospitals, with the others in Margate and Ashford.

A Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) proposes one site hosting all main services, an A&E department and a maternity unit, with the William Harvey in Ashford the likely destination.

A second site will offer A&E and maternity departments – like those presently at Margate’s QEQM – with the third reduced to a hospital offering elective surgery and rehabilitation services.

With most of Canterbury’s junior doctors set to be transferred to Ashford and Margate on June 19, ending the site’s emergency cover for heart and stroke patients, it is feared the K&C will lose out most.

Its future is likely to be a hot campaigning issue for candidates fighting to win the Canterbury and Whitstable seat just 11 days before the transfer.

Emma Burns, a spokesman for the health authority’s transformation plans, says new MPS have a vital role to play in overseeing the changes.

She said: “The STP Programme Board has agreed that plans for health and care services in east Kent will go out to public consultation as soon as they are fully ready.

“It is a process that requires a great deal of hard work and, while it is being progressed as quickly as possible, it cannot be rushed.

“It is also very important that MPS are able to play a full role in representing their constituents as we develop the plans so the general election will inevitably cause some delay.

“As yet, no date has been set for the start of the public consultation although we hope to see it get under way towards the end of this year or early next.

“The proposal for future services at each of the three acute hospital sites in east Kent will be set out in the public consultation.”