A final decision on a planned reorganisation of stroke services in Kent will be made next month, it has been confirmed.

Proposals to open hyper acute stroke units (HASUs) at Dartford’s Darent Valley Hospital, Maidstone Hospital and the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford will be determined by health officials on Thursday, February 14.

However, the exact location and time of the meeting is currently unknown.

Stroke review senior officer Rachel Jones said last month that she hoped decision-makers from Kent’s clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) would come to a judgement in January.

But the final business case has to be discussed by a joint committee of Kent and Medway councillors beforehand, and they are not meeting until Friday, February 1.

The three HASUs would provide expert care to patients in the first 72 hours after a stroke, with the departments administering specialist treatment 24/7.

Objections from Thanet and Medway have been the most vocal since the proposal was made public, with concerns expressed about long journey times impacting on the health of patients.

An option which would have seen the departments based in Tunbridge Wells, Medway and Ashford had the highest percentage of people within 30 and 45 minutes of a HASU.

Elected figures and officers at Medway Council have already set aside £50,000 for a possible judicial review against any decision which sees the Towns miss out on a specialist stroke unit.