A controversial decision to move another medical service out of the Towns only came to light because of a chance conversation.

The change means people needing the transient ischaemic attack (TIA) department will have to travel further for assessment.

This is because staff providing the service handed in their notice to Medway Community Healthcare (MCH) and replacements were unable to be recruited in sufficient time.

TIA is a condition where blood is cut off from the brain intermittently which may be a sign of stroke risk. It was based at Medway Maritime Hospital.

The council’s health and adult social care overview and scrutiny committee (HASC) heard this week that the service left Medway on June 26

However, committee chairman Cllr Dan McDonald (Lab) said they had not been given prior warning about the move by the Integrated Care Board (ICB), which commissions healthcare, and only learned about it from an outside agency.

This is the latest medical service to move out of Medway and members expressed concern and frustration about this trend.

Steve Fenlon, deputy chief medical officer for NHS Kent and Medway, told the committee there was no excuse for members not being informed, but it was likely due to the need for the service to move quickly in order to ensure continuity.

Acute stroke services were moved to Maidstone in 2020, and since 2021 the Ruby Ward for acute mental health difficulties has been in the process of moving there.

Additionally, vascular surgery services finished moving from Medway Maritime Hospital to Kent and Canterbury Hospital in April.

Cllr David Wildley (Con) said: “Do previous promises mean anything? When the acute stroke service was moved out, the TIA was part of that mitigation. It’s now being taken away.

“It always seems that it’s Medway facilities that close and move somewhere else.”

Tory leader Cllr Adrian Gulvin added this was the latest of a long-term trend of losing services, and the Towns are never considered as a location for services to be moved to.

In terms of TIA, Medway and Swale residents will now be referred to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Foundation Trust or Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, or be assessed online via video call.

Representatives from the TIA were asked to return to the next HASC meeting to update on the possibilities of recruiting staff so that the service can return.