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
