Kent’s second specialist stroke unit has opened.

The new 24-hour service has been set up at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford.

The Acute Stroke Unit has 14 beds and the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU) holds 22, allowing the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust (DGT) to care for more than 800 patients a year.

It serves residents of Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley, part of Medway and some Bexley postcodes, depending on ambulance travel times.

The HASU, which is the second of three to open in the county, has rehabilitation areas, a meeting and a therapy room and a refurbished kitchen.

It also features a stroke assessment bay where 90% of suspected stroke admissions are brought in on arrival at the hospital so they receive diagnostics quickly.

Trust chief executive Jonathan Wade said: “As one of the better performing stroke units in England, the development of DGT’s stroke services ensures patients in our local communities can continue to receive some of the highest quality stroke care in the country.

“The new facilities are a great example of how DGT is continually focusing on developing services and improving patient care.”

Stroke unit activity at the hospital increased from 482 strokes in 2017 to 637 strokes in 2022.

This figure is expected to increase by a further 200 as the new unit operates.

Clinical lead at the Trust, Prasanna Aghoram, said: ”HASUs are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and their aim is to consolidate the existing stroke resources across the region in order to meet national best practice standards.

“This means that everyone treated for stroke in Kent and Medway will receive consistently high-quality care, regardless of where they live in the region, or what time of the day or night their stroke occurs.”