During February and March 2022, a public consultation was held asking people for their views on proposals for specialised vascular services in east Kent, Medway and the Maidstone catchment area of west Kent.
Vascular services reconstruct, unblock or bypass arteries and are often one-off specialist procedures to reduce the risk of sudden death or amputation and prevent stroke.
Thank you to the public for submitting responses to the consultation regarding a proposal to create a single centre for inpatient vascular surgery in Kent and Medway, bringing together the inpatient services at Kent and Canterbury and Medway Maritime hospitals.
A consultation, which was run by NHS England specialised commissioning and NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group* (working with Healthwatch and the acute trusts in east Kent, Medway and Maidstone), was open for six weeks.
A clear mandate for change and broad support for the establishment of a single vascular inpatient centre at Kent and Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury.
The findings from the consultation informed a Decision Making Business Case which was then approved by all relevant NHS organisations in Kent and Medway. It was endorsed by the Kent and Medway Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC), December 2022.