Hospital wards across the county are facing closure as the cash-strapped NHS tries to balance its books, reports the Kent on Sunday newspaper.
Concern is being expressed for elderly patients as hospitals prepare to cut beds.
Wards for the elderly are under threat in Margate and Canterbury, and further cuts have not been ruled out at Ashford, Dover and Folkestone.
The cuts are being caused by the £35 million of debt being suffered by East Kent Hospitals NHS trust and are aimed at saving money so that this debt can be repaid.
Trust chiefs have refused to reveal the full details of their plans, but the Kent on Sunday has learned that two wards at Margate’s Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital are under threat, as is one ward at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.
Wards could also be closed at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Buckland Hospital in Dover and Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone.
Kent and Sussex Hospital and Maidstone Hospital are also set to lose 120 beds, the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has said.
Campaign group Concern for Health in East Kent has raised fears that old and vulnerable patients may be forced out of their beds when wards are shut.
Article submitted by: Mr. D.B., Maidstone
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