Who am I? 

My name is Karen Constantine. I’m a local Ramsgate resident and a Councillor. I sit on the Kent County Council, Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, HOSC. I’ve spent most of my working life fighting for an improved NHS.

Thanet residents need a first class Stroke unit on their doorstep, not over a 1 hour drive away! We need a Hyper Acute Stroke Unit, HASU, locally. Thanet is getting a raw deal and that isn’t good enough for the 150,000 people who live here.

Our Case

We are raising money to get legal advice in order to prepare for a Judicial Review. We must act fast to raise the money and build our legal case.

We have an expert firm of solicitors on board and they intend to instruct a leading barrister to consider whether there are legal grounds to challenge this decision as soon as possible . The first £5k raised will allow them to investigate the matter and to send a ‘letter before claim’. This will force the CCG, and Kent County Council to listen to us and take our concerns seriously. We hope to raise more funds than this, and will explore all funding options, including legal aid, in order to take the case to court if we have to do so.

In the meantime we are waiting for the Thanet Clinical Commissioning Group, CCG, to either revise the HASU plan so that Thanet residents do not have their lives put in danger or we need the HOSC to refer it back to the Secretary of State for Health.

We need your support right now! This is an urgent situation. Please pledge to help us fight this case, through the courts if necessary.

Please give what you can and please let your friends, family and work colleagues know about this campaign. It’s only by funding and fighting together that we will win.

Please also follow us on Facebook on the ‘Thanet Stroke Campaign’ page.

Why is this important?

The decision to site a HASU so far away from our community is extremely concerning. Thanet has the poorest health outcomes in Kent. Remember anyone can suffer from a Stroke. Young and old. It’s vital that you get to a good Stroke unit as quickly as you can and get the right treatment as fast as you can. It will take more than 1 hour and 40 minutes from ‘Stroke to treatment’ if these plans aren’t changed. Ashford is too far away.

It is also a sign of what is coming down the tracks. We cannot allow this third rate service for Thanet people, it will be the thin end of a wedge.

We must stand together and demand a quality NHS.

One that meets our needs, our children’s needs and is fit for the future.