Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Hospital decision a ‘matter of urgency’
MPS in east Kent are calling on the Government to fast-track a decision on whether a new “super hospital” should be built in Canterbury.
The group of cross-party politicians - including city MP Rosie Duffield - says the long-awaited reshuffle of local health services is now a “matter of urgency” following a number of recent scandals involving the East Kent Hospitals Trust.
Two options are on the table, but top clinicians are yet to decide which to proceed with. The first would see all specialist services and a major trauma unit centralised at the William Harvey in Ashford, with the K&C downgraded to little more than a cottage hospital. The second would lead to the creation of a new “super hospital” in Canterbury, hosting all major emergency care for east Kent.
The shell of the facility would be funded by local developer Mark Quinn should he secure planning permission for 2,000 homes on nearby land.
In a letter to health secretary Matt Hancock, the MPS stress the state of healthcare in the
region is “impossible” to turn around unless given a £400 million cash injection.
The group - made up Labour’s Ms Duffield and Kent Conservatives Damian Green, Sir Roger Gale, Damian Collins, Craig Mackinlay and Natalie Elphicke - say the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted long-running issues and stress how the trust has been at the forefront of a succession of public scandals.
“We are writing to ask that the East Kent Hospitals Trust should have its transformation programme favourably considered as a matter of urgency,” the letter reads.
“We have seen how the Covid outbreak has exposed pre-existing pressures on the services provided at the hospital sites across east Kent, but the pressures have been obvious for many years.
“The trust has not met A&E waiting time targets for six years, or planned care waiting targets for four years.”
The MPS say more than half of the wards are outdated, and that only 15% of communal areas meet the needs of frail and disabled people. Although they do not all agree on the best way forward, they are all united by a desire to see a decision made, the letter says.
“At the moment the trust is only meeting nine of the expected 36 national clinical standards,” it continues. “Despite the hard work and dedication of the management and staff it will be impossible to turn things around without a significant injection of money. “Around £400 million is needed to give the people of east Kent the emergency healthcare they deserve.
“We have different views about which option should be adopted. But we are united in the view that this significant investment is needed now to transform the NHS in east Kent.”
The under-fire trust has faced a string of troubles in recent months - including having the country’s highest Covid-19 death toll throughout June and July. An inspection by the Care Quality Commission in August uncovered a number of infection control issues, including staff members found not to be wearing PPE properly or washing their hands.
The Trust is also being criminally prosecuted for its handling of the death of baby Harry Richford amid a wider independent investigation into failures in its maternity services.
The Department of Health said: “We are investing billions in our NHS to build back better, and are working to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030, with eight more invited to bid for funding. “We have announced over £8m for urgent upgrades and maintenance work at East Kent Hospitals, as part of a £600m nationwide investment. The trust also recently received £7m to upgrade their A&E facilities, help them prepare for winter and improve infection control.”