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A LOT OF US AND OUR LOVED ONES WILL NEED THIS SERVICE AND THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO FACE IS A JOURNEY ANYTHING UP TO 1 HR OR MORE TO WHH ASHFORD!!

K&C Stroke Services have been named best in the country! 👏👏 why move them?   WE NEED TO KEEP THEM AT K&C!!🙏🙏

WE ALSO NEED MORE GOVERNMENT MONEY TO BE PUT INTO K&C TO BRING IT BACK TO A MODERN, UPDATED HOSPITAL WITH AN A&E, INSTEAD OF WASTING IT ON WHH!!  CANTERBURY IS A MAJOR CITY AND NEEDS AN UPGRADED HOSPITAL.  

They are planning to move all stroke services to the William Harvey Hospital, meaning there will be no stroke care at K&C or QEQM!!   They’re going to build a 54 bed Hyper Acute Stroke service unit, replacing older facilities.  It’s going to be built in the Disabled car park opposite the front entrance, losing valuable parking!!

The 2018 stroke consultation excluded Kent & Canterbury Hospital on the grounds that a HASU must be co‑located with an A&E. Yet stroke services have been safely delivered at K&C since 2020, with significantly improved outcomes and national recognition. This proves the original rationale was flawed. After eight years, with major changes in service configuration, population need, and clinical evidence, a new consultation is essential. A centrally located HASU at K&C would save more lives across East Kent than a peripheral site at Ashford, especially given K&C’s vascular services and superior road access.

This move would not be good for people who live in Canterbury, its surrounding villages or people in Thanet — longer travel times in a time‑critical emergency will put people at risk. Specialist care matters, but so does getting to it fast.   The longer the blood supply is cut off to the brain - the greater the damage.  Time counts and FAST needs to be evaluated ( Face, Arms, Speech, Time).

Firstly you have to wait for the ambulance, then an assessment has to be done, then in the  ambulance and travel time = 10 to 20 mins to K&C but 40 to an hour or more to WHH!  The A28 & A251 are dangerous roads and people from Thanet face an even longer journey when EVERY MINUTE COUNTS!

Stroke is a medical emergency and moving the Stroke Unit from Canterbury to Ashford will put peoples lives at risk and there will be fatalities.

With corridor care being at an all time high there and closing the Costa on a very frequent basis for more chairs, to take yet another unit from K&C is devastating news.  We need these servicesat all 3 East Kent hospital sites.

KEEP IT CENTRAL IN CANTERBURY BECAUSE OTHERWISE THERE WILL BE FATALITIES!   PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION🙏