Sheppey residents have the chance to say where they want Kent and Medway’s new “super stroke” units to be based.

NHS Swale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is holding a public meeting at Minster Community Centre in New Road, Minster, tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon (February 21) from 3pm to 5pm (note later start time).

Sittingbourne residents get a chance to comment at Phoenix House in Central Avenue on Thursday, March 22, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

To book a place at either, call 0300 7906796, email km.stroke@nhs.net or visit www.kentandmedway.nhs.uk/stroke where you can also comment on line.

Doctors insist stroke sufferers must be treated at new-style “hyper acute” units to stand the best chance of recovery.

At the moment, urgent stroke care is provided by six hospitals: Medway Maritime at Chatham; William Harvey at Ashford; Maidstone Hospital, Tunbridge Wells Hospital, Darent Valley Hospital at Dartford and the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital at Margate.

Health bosses led by Swale CCG’s accountable officer Patricia Davies began reviewing services in 2015 and say the six stroke centres must be reduced to three seven-days-a-week 24-hour specialist units.

They have already ruled out Margate but agree Ashford should be included to cover east Kent. The 10-week consultation ends at midnight on Friday, April 13.

Stewart Kitching from Sittingbourne, who chairs the Swale Stroke Group, said: “We all agree this makes sense but it is important we retain our services at Medway. It is crucial we all make a strong argument for one of the new units to be based at Medway.”

The former Royal Engineers Sgt Major suffered a stroke seven years ago. The Swale Stroke group meets on Thursdays from 10.30am to 12.30pm at the Methodist church in Hope Street, Sheerness.

Dr David Hargroves of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said: “There is clear evidence patients benefit most from being treated at a hyper acute stroke unit in the first 72 hours after their stroke, even if that means ambulances driving past the nearest A&E department to get to one.

“With stroke, what counts is the total time it takes from calling 999 to having a scan and starting the right treatment. Spending 15 minutes in an ambulance but waiting three hours in A&E is worse than an hour in an ambulance going to a specialist unit that can scan you and start treatment within 30 minutes of arrival.

“It is vital patients are seen by a stroke consultant every day and regularly assessed by specialist therapists in the first 72 hours of a stroke – something we can’t always offer at the moment.”

Stroke is the third most common cause of death for people under 75.

The shortlist of possible locations is:

A. Darent Valley Hospital, Medway Maritime Hospital, William Harvey Hospital

B. Darent Valley Hospital, Maidstone Hospital, William Harvey Hospital

C. Maidstone Hospital, Medway Maritime Hospital, William Harvey Hospital

D. Tunbridge Wells Hospital, Medway Maritime Hospital, William Harvey Hospital

E. Darent Valley Hospital, Tunbridge Wells Hospital and William Harvey Hospital