Proposals to create a new urgent care treatment centre in north Kent have been slammed by county councillors for lacking a clear transport plan.

Darent Valley Hospital, in Dartford, and Gravesham Community Hospital have been earmarked as two potential sites for the creation of an NHS Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) urgent treatment centre (UTC), in a bid to reduce the pressure on A&E departments.

It will be put out to public consultation next week but several members of Kent County Council's health and scrutiny committee hit out at the proposals yesterday, particularly over the lack of any transport plan for residents would have to rely on buses and trains to travel from Swanley and Gravesham to Darent or vice versa.

Thanet Cllr Lesley Game voiced her "disillusionment" over the whole concept, which is expected to be adopted across other areas of Kent, including Swale and Medway.

She said: "I am disillusioned and thought this was the way forward and seems to be quite frightening with the problems to access and other units being closed. We are going to end up with a mess around Kent."

Gravesend Cllr Bryan Sweetland, who was one of three Gravesham councillors to protest against the plans, said: "16,000 people I represent in large will not be able to get to a hospital in Darent because there is no bus service."

"My concern really is - will we be left without any sort of hospital in Gravesham?" - Cllr Bryan Sweetland

Gerrie Adler, programme director for the UTC, admitted the proposals would be "hard felt" on Gravesham and NHS England were in discussion with bus companies in the local area and residents to try and address the transport concerns.

Urgent care relates to treating illnesses or injuries that are not life-threatening but require an urgent clinical assessment or treatment on the same day.

The proposal, first presented to KCC's health and scrutiny committee in 2014, will see urgent care services located across several centres, brought under one UTC.

Speaking about the merits of the UTC, Ms Alder said they would help "improve" access to primary care and provide a consistent model of health care which could be adopted across the county.

The first of the two proposals would see the transfer of the current GP walk-in service to Gravesham Community Hospital from its current location at Fleet Healthcare in Vale Road, Northfleet.

Supporters of the scheme have said there is pedestrian access to Gravesham Community Hospital and good public transport links to Gravesend town centre from the surrounding areas.

Potential disadvantages to the scheme include the limited car parking at the Bath Street hospital and when the service is reached the number of patients that can be seen, they are likely to be redirected to A&E Darent Valley Hospital.

The second proposal, which was outlined, would see the creation of a UTC at Darent Valley Hospital by moving services from the current minor injuries unit at Gravesham Community Hospital and Fleet Healthcare in Northfleet to Dartford.

The benefits, according to NHS England, would be the UTC could be open 24/7 and patients could be transferred easily from one place to another.

The disadvantages include parking spaces limited at peak times and the lack of transport links to Darent Valley Hospital.

Three Gravesham councillors, Cllr Alan Ridgers, Dr Lauren Sullivan and Cllr Sweetland, protested at the proposed options for consultation, particularly over its transport plan, during a public meeting at Maidstone County Hall today.

Speaking about the reaction of residents in the ward he represents in Gravesham, Cllr Ridgers said: ""It will be difficult to sell them this story."

Cllr Sweetland added: "My concern really is - will we be left without any sort of hospital in Gravesham?"

Dr Sullivan said: "I suggest doing this consultation process in language that is clear and effort given to help people find their local GPs."

Chairman Sue Chandler revealed the UTC proposals for North West Kent would also be scrutinised by Bexley Council with concerns that many patients in Dartford and Swanley would "migrate" to the services providing in the neighbouring borough.

A formal transport plan be brought before them as part of an updated report from the CCG at a future committee meeting.

After the meeting, Cllr Sweetland and Cllr Ridgers added: "Unless there is a radical change to the proposals, we will not support them."

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