The future location of an urgent treatment centre (UTC) will be decided next year.

A public consultation, including surveys, roadshows and events, has been held over the past year about where the new service should be based.

Now, the Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has said it will be "setting out the next steps of plans" in 2020

Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford, and Gravesham Community Hospital, Bath Street, Gravesend, have been earmarked as two potential sites for the creation of the centre, in a bid to reduce the pressure on A&E departments.

Both options will bring together the existing urgent care services provided by the minor injuries unit at the community hospital in Gravesend and the White Horse Walk-in Centre at the Fleet Health Campus in Northfleet, all under one roof to create the new UTC.

The first option is to create a centre by relocating services from the White Horse Walk-in to join the minor injuries unit at Gravesham Community Hospital. The A&E department at Darent Valley Hospital will remain unchanged under this option.

The second option is to locate the centre alongside the A&E department at Darent Valley by moving the existing urgent care services from Gravesham Community Hospital and the White Horse Walk-in Centre.

Both the Fleet Health Campus and Gravesham Community Hospital sites will continue to provide NHS services, with the option to use the additional space to develop more health services, such as other GP services and community-based outpatient clinics.

A 12-week public consultation closed on Monday, November 4, with more than 16,000 surveys completed.

Dr Sarah MacDermott, clinical chairman of the Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCG, said: “The public consultation on the future location of a new (UTC) has now closed and we would like to thank all those who took part in the consultation for their valuable contribution.

"We have received a considerable number of completed surveys and listened to the views of many residents at our community roadshows, events, briefings and public consultation events that we have organised across Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley.

"All the feedback and responses we have received are now being reviewed and analysed by an independent third party and will inform the final decision by the governing body.

"We will be setting out the next steps early in 2020.”

In July, county councillors criticised the travel implications for residents in both boroughs.

Read more: All the latest news from Dartford

Read more: All the latest news from Gravesend