Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
A&E campaigners primed for health secretary meeting
Hospital campaigners are inviting supporters to join them as they take their fight for the K&C to health secretary Jeremy Hunt this month.
The Conservative minister has agreed to meet leaders of Concern for Health in East Kent (Chek), with a face-to-face appointment arranged at the Department of Health at 9.30am on Tuesday, November 21.
Campaigners, led by chairman Ken Rogers, will be taking a lengthy dossier with them to London outlining the issues, dating back to 2002, and the evidence for returning urgent care to the Kent and Canterbury.
Mr Rogers said: “The situation at the A&ES in east Kent is still dire, with stories at the weekend of people on trollies still waiting five hours to be seen.
“We shall be calling on Mr Hunt to establish an independ- ent reconfiguration council to look into the situation in east Kent and the need for three hospital sites.”
A&ES at Margate and Ashford are said to have come under increasing pressure since urgent care was removed from Canterbury.
The decision followed an order by Health Education England and the General Medical Council to remove most junior doctors from the K&C because there were not enough consultants to adequately supervise them.
The East Kent Hospitals Trust says it has since had some success in recruiting more doctors to A&E departments, and waiting times are reducing.
Mr Rogers is inviting supporters to join Chek on the trip to London.
“We shall put on a 76-seater coach, which will leave from Canterbury but also stop in Faversham,” he said. “Depending on the numbers, we will put on more coaches. Anyone interested in joining us, should email chek999@btinternet.com.”