Heping you get the right urgent care when you need it
People rightly expect urgent care services to be easy to access, joined up and available when they need them.
Across Kent and Medway, we are looking at how we can make urgent and emergency care work better for local people.
While services continue to provide important care every day, we know the current urgent care system will need to evolve to meet changing patient needs and workforce challenges in the future.
As part of this work, NHS Kent and Medway is reviewing how urgent treatment centres, GP services, neighbourhood care, community services and hospitals work together to provide urgent care services to help more people get the right care, in the right place, as quickly and safely as possible.
NHS Kent and Medway is also working with providers following Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust's (KCHFT's) decision to step away from running urgent treatment services in Medway, Folkestone and Deal, having already handed over the contracts for Sevenoaks, Gravesend, Sittingbourne and Sheppey to acute hospital providers.
KCHFT has moved away from running urgent treatment services so it can focus on its core role as a community health provider, delivering specialist community services closer to people's homes.
The contracts for Folkestone and Deal run to the end of March 2027. The centres will continue to operate and patients should continue to access care in the usual way while alternative providers are appointed and the wider review of urgent and emergency care is completed.
The urgent treatment centre in Medway is now being run by Medway Foundation Trust and more details are available on the Trust's website. This change took place on 28 September.
Why are we looking at urgent care?
Healthcare has changed significantly in recent years. People increasingly need care closer to home, faster access to same-day support, and services that work together more seamlessly.
We know that demand for urgent care is growing and the NHS faces ongoing workforce and financial pressures. To meet these challenges, services need to work together differently so people can access the right care more quickly and in ways that are sustainable for the future.
We know that many urgent health needs can be assessed and treated safely outside hospital settings through a combination of primary care, neighbourhood health services, community teams and urgent treatment centres. Making sure these services work together effectively will be an important part of improving urgent care for local people.
The review is exploring how we can strengthen community-based urgent care and improve access to same-day care across Kent and Medway's local neighbourhoods.
What does this mean for local services?
While no decisions have been made, we expect the review to identify opportunities to strengthen community-based urgent care and make better use of NHS services across Kent and Medway.
The review is continuing over the coming months and is considering a range of potential options for the future. These options are being assessed against factors such as patient need, quality of care, clinical evidence, workforce requirements, accessibility and value for money.
Importantly, services will continue to operate as they do today while this work is under way.
There will be no immediate changes to local urgent care services as a result of this review. However, we know the current model will need to evolve over time to meet changing patient needs, growing demand and workforce challenges, and the review will help identify how services can best be organised for the future.
How will decisions be made?
The need to review urgent and emergency care was outlined in NHS Kent and Medway's commissioning intentions, providing an early opportunity for patients, partners and stakeholders to comment on the direction of travel. The review will be informed by clinical evidence, patient need, activity data, workforce considerations and patient feedback.
Any firm proposals for future change will continue to be developed with patients, staff, local authorities, voluntary organisations and other partners. Before any decisions are taken, people will have opportunities to understand any proposals and share their views.