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Day care proposal BUSY Bodies Day Care has ap- plied to cater for up to 12 chil- dren at a residential extension at Neville Close, Penenden Heath. Tina Dunne, who operates


Round-up of medical and care matters around the County Town by Dennis Fowle


from her home, said in plan- ning documents: “No employ- ees use the parking areas as they all use public transport or walk. Parents of the children I care for drive, drop off and pick up their children from outside my property at staggered inter- vals and park up for no more than five minutes at a time.”


THE Mid Kent Treatment Cen- tre in Maidstone Hospital, used by many cancer patients requir- ing chemotherapy, is to close in November. But the hospital trust sees


this as an opportunity to bring new services in to the space va- cated. The centre has been run for


the Primary Care Trust by an in- dependent company, Care UK, for five years and has handled


almost 40,000 chemotherapy treatments and 35,000 day cases. But the NHS sees a saving and believes there is sufficient alter- native capacity within the hos- pital trust, with chemotherapy provided mainly in the nearby ward. “It’s a big building so there is plenty of opportunity to com- mission something good,” said a trust spokesman.


End of cancer treatment centre Hospital children’s


unit begins service THE new children’s unit, opened in Maidstone Hospi- tal on September 22, has been named ‘Riverbank’. It replaces the children’s


ward when full paediatric services are switched 17 miles away to Pembury. The short-stay assessment


unit and outpatient depart- ment will open only 9am to 9pmMondays to Fridays.


Hope for medical practice merger


A PLAN has been submitted to merge two medical practices to form a new centre in Bower Mount Road, Maidstone. If accepted by the borough council’s plan-


ning department, the proposal would see the closure of King Street Surgery (pictured) and its sister surgery at 88 London Road, and a larger amalgamated practice on the junction with London Road. In a planning statement, applicant GPGNo.


5 Ltd says: “Present conditions are cramped, preventing development in some areas and neither building allows for service delivery in line with the requirements of modern care. “The practice currently has 10,988 regis-


tered patients and has a catchment area cov- ering as far east as Detling, north to Boxley and Penenden Heath, south to the Wheatsheaf, Loose Road, and west covering London Road to Hermitage Lane. “The practice expects that with amore suit-


King Street Surgery is set to close if a more suitably sited practice is approved by Maidstone Council


ably sited practice location, with improved disability access, a growth in patient numbers will occur. Therefore, any new facility must


Volunteer service to be axed Continued from page one


costs hundreds of thousands of pounds and is not now affordable. Mr Walters, of Charing and formerly of


the village of Leeds, provides the voluntary service and knowshowvital it is topatients coming to Maidstone from areas such as Thanet, Canterbury, Ashford, Romney Marsh, Dartford,TunbridgeWells as well as from within the Maidstone area. “Most of the patients are elderly and


manyinfirm,” he said. “The service is vital to them, especially when they are feeling weak after treatments. What is going to happen?” Downs Mail understands many are can-


cer patients attending Kent Oncology Cen- tre and separate financial arrangements may preserve some of the service for them. Patients are being informed and advised of


THE Chronic Pain Unit re- turned to Maidstone Hos- pital from September 26. It was controversially re- moved from the hospital without public consulta- tion during the years Rose Gibb was chief executive causing deep concern for patients having to make a journey of up to 20 miles for treatment at Pembury. Many travelled together in volunteer driver cars, meaning each-way jour-


22 Town


alternatives, ranging from financial support if on benefits and of other voluntary driving organisations. A Trust spokesman said: “The voluntary


car service is largely unfunded and taking hundreds of thousands of pounds a year away from direct patient care to help run it is no longer an option. “Patients will be advised about other vol- untary car schemes. Importantly, anyone who ismedically unwell will still be taken from home to hospital and back again by our hospital ambulance service, which is being expanded. “Patients who are in receipt of benefits


can also seek financial assistance to help cover their travel cost.” The Trust added it would continue to provide a reduced vol- untary car service with the funding it does receive for this purpose.


Chronic pain unit returns to Maidstone


neys of 90 minutes or more, often in cramped conditions. MASH (Maidstone Ac-


tion for Services in Hospi- tal) led the campaign to restore the service – and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust board agreed it would come back as women’s and children’s services were transferred from Maidstone to Pem- bury in September. That promise is now


being met and the unit is being located initially in the vacated maternity unit. Out-patient serviceswill


also be offered at the new hospital at Pembury and at Sevenoaks. All day-case operating theatre sessions will be at Maidstone. Dennis Fowle, chairman


of MASH, said: “This is excellent news for Maid- stone. We are losingmuch – but this is a significant, much-needed gain.”


allow for such growth and expansion.” The scheme involves demolishing an exist-


ing single-storey extension at the proposed new building, and construction of a new two- storey extension, linking and integratingwith the original building at ground and first floor level. The statement continues: “Providing this new facility will release a town centre property [King Street] for potential business and a Cox-style semi-detached property [Lon- don Road] for residential use.” Aplanning application is currently under consideration for a new medical surgery at nearby 13 Tonbridge Road. If given planning approval, it would replace


The Vine Medical Centre, currently based in cramped conditions in a converted house at 166 Tonbridge Road, which has been looking for a bigger, purpose-built surgery for a few years. If approved, construction work will start later this year on the new surgery. The new building could be ready by the end of 2012.


‘More modest’ parking MAIDSTONE Hospital has submitted a re- vamped planning application to increase the amount of staff car parking. After pre-application discussions with Maid-


stone Council, the hospital’s new scheme for the north-west corner of the site is more modest. A planning statement says: “The proposal of-


fers a reduced scheme than originally applied for, thus retaining the majority of woodland. The existing car park offers 67 spaces. If adopted, this proposal will accommodate 251 spaces in total. “The extended car park has been designed to


help with additional personnel required to staff new facilities and departments currently in the process of moving to Maidstone Hospital. “The expansion of departments includes cel-


lular pathology, moved from Preston Hall, the formation of a new birthing unit and various administrative departments moving from Tun- bridgeWells to Maidstone.”


Hospice’s legacy plea


THEHeart of Kent Hospice,which next year cel- ebrates its 21st anniversary, has launched a cam- paign to encouragemore people to think of it in their wills. Aspokesman said: “Thanks to the very gener-


ous and on-going support of our community over the years we have been able to sustain and ex- pand this vital community service. However, with the current economic downturn, raising the £3.6m we need is a challenge. Gifts in wills – or legacies – have formed a vital part of funding. “It is for this reason that we are launching a campaign to encourage more people to think about our hospice when they are writing their wills and thereby ensuring that we will be here for the next 21 years.”


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