Groups fighting the NHS decision to close Thanet's stroke unit have raised more than £10,000 to fund legal challenges against the controversial move.

Save Our NHS in Kent (Sonik) and the Thanet Stroke Campaign (TSC) are preparing to submit separate judicial reviews against the £40 million overhaul of stroke services in Kent.

Both campaign groups say they need to raise cash to help pay for lawyers working on their cases, which need to be lodged by May 14.

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Letters setting out the legal grounds for the judicial review need to be sent to bosses at the Kent and Medway Stroke Review ahead of the formal submissions.

Sonik sent their letter last week and TSC is due to send theirs in the coming days with both groups passing their initial £5,000 funding targets in the past week.

Ramsgate councillor Karen Constantine who founded the TSC group says their review will focus on the decision to locate the new hyper acute unit for east Kent in Ashford at the William Harvey Hospital.

Cllr Constantine (Lab) says she believes one aspect they can challenge is emerging comments from the NHS about compensation measures for people in Thanet needing to travel to Ashford.

The group says people with limited mobility or low incomes and earners - which covers a high proportion of Thanet residents - will be hardest hit.

"These are the issues which should've been considered that the CCG should have done before making the decision," Cllr Constantine said.

Campaigners are working on three elements of their fight at the moment - preparing for a judicial review, referring the decision to the health secretary and challenging the CCG directly about its decision.

Cllr Constantine say they hope the NHS will "see sense and take full recognition of the fact that many thousands of people in Thanet hugely disagree with the decision".

Sonik reached their funding target in four days leaving organisers surprised at the speed of support received for the review.

A spokesman for the group said: "We had 30 days to collect this money. We’ve collected in just four and a bit days, which is great.

"The speed with which we’ve collected this money shows how desperately worried people are about the threat to stroke services in this area.

"This money has enabled us to mount our formal challenge, but if the NHS bosses refuse to change their plans then we will have to take it to the next stage of the legal process. We are not going to give up and will need to keep raising money."

The campaigners from Sonik and the Thanet Stroke Campaign are due to hold a conference call this week to discuss issues both groups are working on.

Cllr Constantine added: "We're not in competition with Sonik and I hope they're not in competition with us. It's not unusual to have two groups or people taking out a judicial review.

"I've asked our lawyers to speak to their lawyers when I knew they were going live with theirs.

"We can try to take a bite out of the same pie.

"That's good because whether either party is successful there's no doubt in my mind that we will be raising concern that are valid for all Thanet residents.

"It sends a clear warning shot to not come after any more of our services because you're not getting them."

Cllr Constantine, who has worked in employment law and served as a magistrate for eight years until last year, added the groups need to keep pushing even if the judicial reviews are not successful.

"It doesn't mean we won't ask the questions and scrutinise the decision of the CCG," she said.

"One will be for a mobile stroke unit which has just been piloted in Southend and it's off to Ipswich.

"That's a £1m piece of kit and why can't we have that here?

"We've got to challenge every step of the way decisions which affect Thanet residents. It's literally a fight to preserve our NHS here on every front."

Meanwhile, the groups are continuing to lobby NHS bosses ahead of a crunch meeting on May 21 at Kent County Council's (KCC) health and overview scrutiny committee meeting.

Councillors voted in March to tell health chiefs to look again at the plans after agreeing the proposals are "not in the best interests of the health service in the area".

The committee also threatened to refer the decision to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, unless NHS executives amend their plan when the review is discussed again at County Hall next month.

Sonik says it will push for a fourth stroke centre in Kent and Medway including one in Thanet.

The NHS is critical of the moves pressing for a formal legal review saying delays to their plan being implemented "will inevitably lead to more deaths".

Rachel Jones, director for the Kent and Medway Stroke Review, said: "We absolutely understand the concerns that some people have about the prospect of not having one of the new hyper acute stroke units near them.

"The evidence is that what saves lives and reduces disability is people getting expert care, treatment and monitoring in a specialist centre providing 24/7 care in the vital few days after their stroke, even if they travel further to get there.

"Despite the tireless work of our dedicated staff, our existing stroke services do not consistently provide the standard of care people should be able to expect.

"This is not acceptable, and that is why specialist stroke doctors and leading GPs across the county have made the recommendations for these changes."

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