Jujia Li made a short film about Save Our NHS in Kent and the campaign to protect stroke services at Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital. She asked me for my views on the research about stroke services.
Demonstration to Protect Stroke Services at QEQM Hospital
Under plans drawn up by health commissioners for Kent and Medway, stroke services will move from Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. It takes an hour to drive from Thanet to Ashford on a good day, which doesn’t account for ambulance waiting times sometimes in excess of half an hour. Deprivation increases the likelihood of stroke, meaning that the rates of stroke admissions in Thanet are higher than elsewhere in the county. Save Our NHS in Kent (SONiK) has been set up to resist cuts and closures to health services. On 3 February 2018, SONiK arranged a demonstration against the proposed removal of stroke services. I was asked for my views by the BBC, which were broadcast on the South East Evening News later that day.
‘Kent Campaigners in Demo Over Stroke Service Proposals’, BBC News, 3 February 2018: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-42933162
On the Eve of the Demonstration to Protect Stroke Services at QEQM Hospital
The Isle of Thanet News ran a story about the proposed loss of stroke services from Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital. My views were quoted at length, with Tony Benn presiding.
‘Consultation on plans to create 3 hyper acute stroke units – removing services from QEQM – now open’, The Isle of Thanet News, 2 February 2018: read here
Background to the Defend Our NHS conference, South Thanet Labour Party
On 27 January 2018, Save Our NHS in Kent (SONiK) organised a meeting to discuss the cuts and closures planned for health services in Kent and Medway. In advance of the conference, I wrote a piece for the South Thanet Labour Party website, outlining the proposals in the context of recent health and social care policy.
