Hospital campaigners demanding health bosses table a proposal which would allow for three A&E departments in east Kent have been told their plan is a "non-starter".

The Save our NHS in Kent (Sonik) group wants chiefs to consider offering full A&E services at the William Harvey Hospital, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Kent and Canterbury hospitals.

But Ashford MP Damian Green says the idea is impractical as it would mean specialist surgeons would be overstretched.

The NHS is currently exploring two options for reconfiguring the three main east Kent hospitals.

The first would see all specialist services moved to the William Harvey, A&E at the QEQM expanded and the K&C heavily downgraded.

The second is a ‘super hospital’ proposal by prolific developer Mark Quinn, which would see the K&C become the major hospital for east Kent.

It would host a major emergency centre and maternity unit, but all outpatient facilities would be moved elsewhere, with the Harvey and QEQM losing their A&Es and maternity units.

Sonik members are calling on the East Kent Clinical Commissioning Groups to consider offering A&E services across its three sites, but Mr Green has criticised the idea.

He said: “I do not believe this is a practical proposal.

“The main objection is medical safety. The medical colleges rightly require that a specialist surgeon does a certain number of operations a year to maintain that specialism safely.

"Three A&Es in east Kent would mean that none of them would allow surgeons to meet the criteria, as there would not be enough operations to divide between three sets of specialists.

“So even before you get to the cost implications, this is a non-starter.

“I have made clear consistently that the best solution is to maintain the A&E services at the William Harvey with option one, so that services such as maternity can also be kept in Ashford.”

Sonik members took to Ashford’s high street on Saturday promoting a petition in support of a third option with three A&Es, which has garnered more than 3,400 signatures.

The group says the two options currently being considered are both “unsatisfactory”.

Maria Pizzey, a Sonik member said: “Evidence suggests mortality rate increases with an increase in journey time.

“Centralising emergency services will result in lengthier journeys for patients and this will mean people will die on their way to hospital.

“We are calling on Damian Green to back the call for our third option, which would meet the demands of the whole of east Kent.”

In an email to Mr Green from the clinical chairs of four clinical commissioning groups and the medical director of the East Kent Hospitals Trust, the medical professionals also shut down the calls for a third option to be considered.

They said: “We have recorded the request for a third option to be added for consultation as part of the feedback on the proposals.

“However, to avoid any doubt, we cannot put such an option into a public consultation.

"The possibility of running three full A&E departments has already been considered and ruled out.

“It would not be consistent with the latest clinical guidance on emergency care, it would not be possible to staff, and it would not be affordable.

“Even if the money was available and there were enough specialist staff to run full services on all three sites, it would still not be the right thing to do clinically.

“Doing nothing is not an option, nor is proposing unrealistic options that would not be in the best interests of the residents of east Kent.

“It is not possible to have everything at every hospital."