News

Many of the services at Folkestone's Royal Victoria Hospital are to be retained, following a meeting of Shepway Council’s Community Overview Committee on Monday (19 February)

Committee members have welcomed assurances that 42 services currently provided at the hospital will be retained. The assurances were given at a meeting of the committee by Matthew Kershaw, Chief Operating Officer and Howard Jones, Director of Facilities, from the East Kent Hospitals Trust.

Both had been invited to answer councillors’ questions following concerns about the future of health services at the Royal Victoria Hospital if the disposal of the site goes ahead. The meeting on Monday (19 February) had been arranged following a meeting of the full council in January which had asked the committee to question the running costs that have been cited as a reason for the decision to dispose of the site, look at alternative solutions to disposal and seek an assurance that if the site is redeveloped, it remains a centre of health services in Shepway.

Committee chairman, Cllr Paul Marsh, said he was very pleased that representatives from the East Kent Hospitals Trust had been able to attend and to answer members’ questions.

“We welcome the assurances we were given,” he said: “These were:
• 42 services currently provided at the Royal Victoria Hospital will be retained on site
• no changes to the location of services within the RVH site will happen for a year to 18 months
• there will be no interruption to the provision of services during the transition 
• The capital receipts and revenue savings would not be used to plug deficits but would be used to improve services to residents in East Kent.

“The committee was also able to make it clear that it strongly believes the Derry Unit, with 40 per cent of its patients coming from the Shepway area, should remain at The Royal Victoria Hospital,” he said.

The committee will prepare a full report for a meeting of the full council in April.