Campaigners from across Kent will march to save the stroke unit in Margate's QEQM this Saturday.

NHS bosses in Kent and Medway have plans to set up three hyper acute stroke units in the county - but to close the existing unit in the Margate hospital.

Stroke victims in Thanet would have to travel to Ashford's William Harvey Hospital for treatment, a distance which campaigners say will lessen their chance of survival.

A spokesman for the Save Our NHS in Kent group claims that the lives of Thanet people will be sacrificed to save on costs.

They added: "The official advice is that speed of treatment is vital for stroke victims - so it's obvious that Thanet people will die as a result of having to travel to Ashford, a long road journey on minor roads.

"And where's the sense in closing a stroke unit in Thanet where being an area of high deprivation and ill health stoke victims are likely to be most common?

"Local NHS bosses reckon they have to act because of a shortage of staff.

"By what's causing this shortage? Staff are leaving the NHS because they are demoralised by cutbacks and privatisation.

"The government needs to halt the privatisation and put real funding into the health service.

"We need to tell the government what we think.

"Everyone who wants to save our stroke unit and the NHS should come and march with us on February 24."

Plans were announced in January for a £40 million investment to create the three units, with money being spent on building work, equipment at hospitals and to help recruit more staff.

A shortlist has been drawn up of where the three units would be.

Locations include Darent Valley Hospital, Maidstone Hospital, Medway Maritime Hospital, Tunbridge Wells Hospital and William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

The march group will be meeting outside the main entrance to Margate's QEQM Hospital in Ramsgate Road at midday on Saturday, February 24.

A statement from NHS is east Kent says: “There is overwhelming evidence that NHS proposals to create a new hyper acute stroke unit in Ashford would save lives and reduce disability for the people of Thanet and the rest of east Kent.

“With stroke, what counts is getting the right treatment from specialist staff, whatever time of day or day of the week it is.

“It is better to travel an hour in an ambulance to a specialist unit where your treatment starts in 30 minutes, than to spend 15 minutes in an ambulance and wait three hours in A&E.

“Our proposals recommend Ashford as the right place for the hyper acute stroke unit because it has the range of services that are desirable for a hyper acute stroke unit and it can be reached in less than 61 minutes from everywhere in east Kent.”