A long-serving consultant has broken ranks to condemn plans to downgrade the Kent and Canterbury Hospital (K&C), warning it will be the \u201cfinal nail in the coffin\u201d for the site.<\/p>\n
Dr Howard Dent says the extent of the proposals to axe certain services was revealed at a recent meeting with East Kent Hospital Trust bosses.<\/p>\n
Consultant anaesthetist Dr Howard Dent has worked for the East Kent Hospitals Trust for more than 30 years<\/p>\n
He claims that during the consultants\u2019 forum, acting chief medical officer Helen Mackie indicated the full strategic direction of the trust, which he worries could leave the K&C with just elective surgery, like orthopaedics, and a \u2018frailty\u2019 centre for older patients.<\/p>\n
In a rare intervention by a serving staff member, Dr Dent told KentOnline: \u201cI left the meeting alarmed by what I\u2019d heard because it was made quite clear that the future of the K&C will be very limited.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole thrust of the discussion was about moving all acute services to the William Harvey, which will leave the K&C a shadow of what it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city hospital opened in Ethelbert Road in 1937 and had a fully functioning A&E until 2005 – leaving Ashford\u2019s William Harvey and Margate\u2019s QEQM as the only hospitals in east Kent with emergency departments for the past two decades.<\/p>\n
Trust bosses have told KentOnline that no decisions have yet been taken on the K&C\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
But Dr Dent, who has worked for the trust since 1994, has chosen to speak out against any \u201cfurther cutbacks\u201d at the hospital because he fears acute services will be transferred to sites \u201cwith a history of failure and incompetence\u201d.<\/p>\n
The 67-year-old points to the problems in maternity services and the critical incidents which have been declared at A&E at the QEQM and William Harvey.<\/p>\n
The consultant anaesthetist fears more K&C services, including acute stroke thrombectomy and vascular surgery, will be the next to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcute stroke thrombectomy started here in the last six months and is achieving good results,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proximity of the acute stroke reception area, radiology and the very expensive new thrombectomy suite being particularly advantageous.<\/p>\n
\u201dVascular surgery at the K&C recently took on Medway\u2019s vascular work but is struggling to cope because it is under-resourced.\u201d<\/p>\n
Acting trust chief executive Des Holden also spoke at the consultants\u2019 forum.<\/p>\n
According to Dr Dent, Mr Holden \u201cas good as admitted\u201d that the K&C\u2019s resources have been used to \u201chelp bail out other loss-making services in the trust\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dr Dent said: \u201cKent and Canterbury Hospital staff have always met the many challenges thrown at them – not least during Covid when the hospital treated most of the cancer patients from all specialities in east Kent while also caring for critically ill Covid patients from neurology, haematological oncology and renal services.<\/p>\n
\u201dBut in east Kent, success is not rewarded. Specialist services are to be transferred to sites that have a history of failure and incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Dent also worries that patients will not get the quality of experience or outcomes if more services are moved.<\/p>\n
The Kent and Canterbury Hospital<\/p>\n
\u201cCanterbury was once a thriving hospital but further cutbacks will be the final nail in the coffin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also makes it very hard to recruit new staff if they know the hospital is being downgraded in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Dent admits his outspoken intervention is unlikely to make him popular with trust bosses, but added: \u201cFrankly, we need to act quickly if we are going to stop this relentless transfer of services, which is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wants the trust to step back and look at what works well about the current system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should invest in that rather than spending money just needlessly moving services across the patch where they may not be provided quite so well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Consultant anethethist Dr Howard Dent has spoken out about his concerns<\/p>\n
In a statement to KentOnline, Ms Mackie said the trust recognises that \u201chealthcare is changing\u201d with a growing and ageing population – and more people living with multiple long-term conditions and frailty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn east Kent, we want to transform both urgent and emergency care and how the health system looks after elderly and vulnerable patients over the next five years,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to develop centres of excellence in our hospitals, improve cancer and diagnostic services, invest in maternity and children’s services, and continue to modernise the technology, infrastructure and workforce that support high-quality care.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients will continue to access care locally wherever possible whilst benefiting from specialist expertise when required.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to work with our clinicians, our patients, our NHS and social care partners, the communities we serve and those who represent them in how we do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Mackie said the trust is \u201ccommitted to being open about the challenges we face\u201d and will publish its \u201cstrategic intentions\u201d early next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to working with patients, staff, our partners and local population to provide excellent health services for the people of east Kent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
KentOnline reported earlier this year that the K&C\u2019s high-performing stroke unit is set to move to the William Harvey, where a new centre is being built, which sparked anger and a campaign.<\/p>\n
The new Hyper Acute Stroke Unit currently under construction at Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital<\/p>\n
That decision came despite the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme, which provides data to the NHS, revealing that East Kent Hospitals is now the only trust in England rated \u2018A\u2019 for stroke care.<\/p>\n
Concerns have also been raised about the time it will take for patients to get to hospital – from Thanet, for example – when time is so critical.<\/p>\n
Ms Mackie told KentOnline the decision was taken after significant public consultation across Kent and Medway and \u201creflects best practice in stroke treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWorking with our clinicians, we will consider whether the William Harvey Hospital could become a circulatory centre of excellence supported by interventional radiology and mechanical thrombectomy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will also consider whether Kent and Canterbury Hospital could build upon the success of its orthopaedic centre to become east Kent\u2019s principal centre for planned surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients and local communities will be fully involved in these decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
A campaign against the downgrading of the K&C has been waging for more than 20 years, backed by Concern for Health in East Kent (Chek).<\/p>\n
Its full A&E department was closed 21 years ago, becoming an \u201cemergency care centre\u201d. It was further reduced to an urgent treatment centre in 2016.<\/p>\n
A petition, called \u2018Save Kent and Canterbury Hospital\u2019, has so far gained almost 9,000 signatures. It was launched after the trust revealed it wants to cut the night-time opening hours of the centre, claiming a lack of use.<\/p>\n
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield said at the time the proposal was \u201cdeeply concerning for the community\u201d.<\/p>\n