NHS campaigners have launched a formal challenge against plans to close the stroke unit in Margate's QEQM hospital.

The Save Our NHS in Kent (SONIK) group has written formally to the Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Partnership, asking them to abandon or restart the consultation process.

A SONIK spokesman said: "The STP are legally required to consult over these plans.

"We believe their consultation process has been fundamentally flawed and we are calling on them to abandon their plans or start a new consultation process.

"If they fail to respond to our challenge, our next move will be to seek a judicial review.

"We are taking this step because it is literally a matter of life and death.

"If we let them close our stroke unit down, people in thanet are going to have to travel to Ashford for treatment and some are going to die. It is that desperate."

SONIK's letter, written with the advice of law firm Harrison Grant, lists many alleged defects in the STP's consultation process, including:

• serious misrepresentation, inconsistency and a lack of transparency in the materials presented to the media and general public
• the use of evidence based on stroke units in London and not applicable to a semi rural area like Kent
• the omission of the option of having two hyper acute stoke units in east Kent including one in Margate meaning that a key decision has been taken before the consultation began
• and a failure to properly publicise the consultation and to answer questions raised during the consultation on key issues such as journey times to hospital or the financing of the project.

SONIK is stepping up its campaign to save the stroke unit by calling a major rally in Margate on Sunday, April 8.

And to present evidence for what they claim is the true likely impact of the closure of the stroke unit, SONIK is holding an exhibition in the 6 Lombard Street Gallery in Margate from Thursday, April 5 to Wednesday, April 11.

The SONIK spokesman said: "The STP consultation has given people an utterly false picture of what closing the stroke unit in Margate will mean to local people, as well as the other options might be.

"We're going to give people the real facts about the risks and dangers the STP plan entails.

"Many senior doctors in the area have expressed serious misgivings about the plan and we have these on record.

"These include the poor state of the road links to Ashford and the actual time it will take to ambulance stroke victims there - two hours according to one doctor's estimate, over twice the time needed for a good outcome."

Responding to criticism about the Kent and Medway stroke consultation process from campaign group Save our NHS in Kent, Patricia Davies, senior responsible officer for the stroke review, said: “We believe our consultation process has been fair and transparent and, while we are disappointed that Save Our NHS in Kent thinks otherwise, we refute their allegations.

"The letter received from Save Our NHS in Kent will be considered as part of the consultation process. It would be up to the courts to decide if any request for a judicial review would proceed to a hearing.

“This consultation is about saving lives. I wouldn’t be leading it otherwise.

"As a nurse - I still am a registered nurse – I trained to save lives and give patients the best chance of a good recovery. Up and down the country where hyper acute stroke units have been introduced, there has been a positive impact - reducing avoidable deaths, reducing disability.

“As someone whose father had a stroke, I am very aware of the impact of stroke on both the individual and on families.

"During their development, we discussed our proposals at length with stroke survivors and their carers. They said they would rather travel further to a specialist unit and survive, and have the best possible chance of independent life afterwards.

“I would encourage anyone who hasn’t already done so to read the consultation document and complete the consultation questionnaire online, or send us their views by letter (to Freepost Kent and Medway NHS) or by email (to km.stroke@nhs.net) so their comments can be considered during the decision-making process.”

Patient group, Healthwatch Kent, recently scrutinised the stroke review to date.

In a public letter, Steve Inett, Chief Executive of Healthwatch Kent, wrote: "We have scrutinised all the evidence which showed how many people have been involved so far from all parts of our community. "We were reassured that so far, the stroke review has adequately and effectively managed a robust and fair review of stroke services and involved local people in a meaningful and constructive way."

The consultation ends at midnight on April 13. Full details about the consultation can be found at www.kentandmedway.nhs.uk/stroke.