Faversham Cottage Hospital ward aims to re-open this December

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) is working towards reopening the 16-bed inpatient service at Faversham Cottage Hospital in December, subject to safe and sustainable staffing levels.

The decision to pause the 16-bed ward was made at the end of June, after staffing levels became critically low due to vacancies and sickness, particularly in leadership roles.

Despite efforts to bolster the service with bank and agency and transferring staff from other hospitals, Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) made the difficult decision to pause the service to protect patient safety.

During the past three months, the trust has worked intensively to recruit to safety-critical roles and support colleagues to return to work. So far, 26 candidates have been recruited across all community hospitals, with six being appointed to Faversham. Further interviews are ongoing.

KCHFT Chief Executive Mairead McCormick said: “Closing a service at short notice on safety grounds is never a decision you want to make, but it’s one we must take when patient safety is at risk. We are not willing to compromise the care we can provide and nor would the community want us to.

Chief Executive Mairead McCormick

“While pre-employment checks, start dates and induction programmes are still being completed, we wanted to share with the community and our colleagues, our current aim for reopening in December.

“I must emphasise this is our target, not a confirmed date. All new staff must be thoroughly and safely inducted to ensure we deliver the high-quality care the people of Faversham expect and deserve. We will only reopen once we are confident that staffing levels are safe.”

During the pause, hospital staff have been re-deployed into other community teams or to neighbouring community hospitals in east Kent.

Mairead added: “I’d like to express my sincere thanks to our Faversham Cottage Hospital team for their professionalism, flexibility and unwavering commitment to our patients. We know this has been a disruptive period and we are truly grateful.

“We must also be honest about the fragility of the service. We remain committed to continuing our conversation with the local community about the long-term future of community health care in the town and what a thriving neighbourhood health service could look like.

"We are extremely grateful for the suggestions put forward, so far.”

In September, the trust held a public meeting in the town’s Alexander Centre and launched a survey to gather people’s views on community care and their experience.

The survey remains open and you can complete it online.

While the inpatient ward is not yet open, other NHS services on the site – the urgent treatment centre and GP services – remain unaffected.