Background
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.
Currently, specialised vascular services are delivered from two surgical centres – Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham and the Kent and Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury.
Our ambition is to create a vascular centre of excellence for Kent and Medway that:
• makes sure the best outcomes and chances of survival for patients based on best practice agreed by experts,
• makes sure we have more specialists available 24/7 with the right specialist skills, equipment and infrastructure,
• meets the national standards for vascular surgery.
To achieve these ambitions we need to change the way services are provided.
NHS England South East region and NHS Kent and Medway are working together on medium-term proposals for specialised vascular services in east Kent, Medway and the Maidstone catchment area of west Kent.
A public consultation on the proposed changes was carried out in February and March 2022.
The consultation document outlined our recommendation for doctors, nurses and other professionals to work together as one team across east Kent, Medway and Maidstone. The proposals would result in all specialised vascular surgery that needs an overnight hospital stay being transferred from Medway Maritime Hospital to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. These proposed changes would potentially affect up to 265 patients a year.
These are medium-term proposals which would be in place until a decision is made about how care across east Kent’s hospitals is organised following future consultation about the East Kent Transformation Programme.
Where we are now
The public consultation on the proposed changes to vascular surgical services concluded in March 2022. Read the consultation report.
The decision-making business case (DMBC) for the proposed changes is in the process of being finalised and it will start its approvals process in the autumn of 2022.