County hopes for £400m in spending review for massive service change

Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group told HSJ it anticipated funding for the reconfiguration of emergency and specialist services in East Kent would be confirmed in the chancellor’s funding settlement later this year.

The CCG added in a statement: “A further iteration [of the reconfiguration plans] will be considered as part of the national November spending review to identify the necessary capital funding. A formal consultation is anticipated to take place in 2021.”

The reconfiguration will need close to £400m in public money, but it was not included in the government’s flagship hospital building plans laid out by prime minister Boris Johnson last year.

The two options for the reconfiguration are a main emergency and specialist hospital in Ashford, with a second A&E in Thanet; or for a new-build hospital in Canterbury with a A&E which would cover the whole area. The Canterbury option would include the shell of a new hospital donated by a developer in return for getting planning permission elsewhere in the city.

The pre-consultation business case was submitted to NHS England and Improvement earlier this month – nearly three years after the two options for the reconfiguration were unveiled.

The long delay has drawn criticism from Kent county councillor Karen Constantine, who sits on the health overview and scrutiny committee. She said: “I am dismayed to hear that the proposed reconfiguration is delayed even further. This means that services for patients remain in a state of flux and that staff are not sure where they will work or where their work bases will be in future. This uncertainty inevitably impacts on recruitment and retention of key staff which is a huge problem for the trust.”

The two options for the reconfiguration were first unveiled in late 2017 with an expectation that public consultation would follow in 2018. But new requirements from NHS England and Improvement that pre-consultation business cases needed to have been approved with a funding source identified before consultation could begin has held the process up.

In February 2019, the four clinical commissioning groups in East Kent issued a timeline showing submission to NHS E/I in November 2019. This timetable then slipped but in February this year county councillors were told a final draft would be ready in March.

Last year Mr Johnson announced funding for six new hospitals and big refurbishment projects, and small amounts of money for other building schemes to be developed. Despite the timeline for the schemes running until 2030, East Kent was not among them.